3 February 2025
Chelsea 2 West Ham 1
Enzo Maresca’s side came into this match after some very favourable results elsewhere over the weekend. It meant that victory would see them move back into fourth spot and the coveted Champions League places. Graham Potter was making a return to Stamford Bridge for the first time since he was sacked as Blues’ manager, this time with his West Ham side.
The Hammers had a big boost before the game with the return of Jarrod Bowen from injury. While Potter is still without many key players, they would have come into this match full of confidence. However, it was the hosts who started on the front foot. For the first fifteen minutes of this game, it was defence versus attack.
Chelsea came forward with Jackson who played a great pass out to Madueke with the outside of his foot. The winger ran at The Hammers’ defence before checking onto his left foot and looking to bend one in the far corner. With Areola at full-stretch, it narrowly missed the far post. West Ham were riding their luck but still had their clean sheet intact.
West Ham had given a debut to Irving in the heart of midfield and he had the chance to get a shot off at goal from outside the box when the ball dropped to him on the volley. As he sliced across the ball, he just got underneath it as it comfortably sailed over the crossbar. What a way that would have been to introduce himself to The Hammers’ fans.
Kudus then played a wild pass to gift the ball to Madueke. As he looked to square his marker up, he spotted the run of Fernandez. He laid it into the path and the Argentine got a first-time shot away in the box but it was well wide of the far post. Chelsea were proving to be wasteful when chances presented themselves.
Colwill then played a suicide pass back towards his keeper. It was so underhit, it ran straight into the path of Bowen, who passed it into the far corner to give West Ham the lead, largely against the run of play. The Hammers look such a different team when he is playing and you began to wonder whether Potter’s side could upset the odds in West London.
As The Blues tries to find an equaliser, they won a free-kick in a dangerous position. Palmer stepped up to take and his curling effort seemed to be heading into the top corner. Areola made an acrobatic leap across his goal and managed to turn it over with a fingertip save. It was fantastic stuff from the West Ham stopper.
Potter’s side headed into the break with a slender lead. It was over to the new manager to mastermind how his side were to ensure they held on for the win at Stamford Bridge. Maresca needed to turn this game around, they had dropped too many points at home already this season. Defeat would put a severe dent in any Champions League qualification hopes.
The Chelsea manager made some changes to try and change their fortunes in the game. The most notable was the introduction of Pedro Neto. The winger is unselfish and often favours getting into positions to hurt opponents with his supply. This is very different to Madueke who is always looking to score, even when teammates are in better positions.
This was evident immediately as he received the ball in a wide position. He teased the defender before putting a curling ball in towards the back post. It was kept in play by Cucurella and dropped to Fernandez. His shot was blocked but the loose ball fell the Portuguese winger, who slotted home to get Chelsea back on level terms.
Chelsea were looking a completely different team after their goal. They were piling on the pressure, with West Ham struggling to get out of their own half. Then came a lucky break for The Blues as Palmer picked up the ball outside the box. He dribbled into the penalty area before looking to cross into the middle. It took a huge deflection off Wan-Bissaka, looped over Areola and into the back of the net.
Enzo Maresca will feel his team were due some good luck and for the first time they led in this match. They had just over fifteen minutes to see this game out. Despite having signed about £150m worth of defensive midfielders, this team do not look capable of seeing games out when they hold a slender advantage.
Their best form of defence is attack. Not only would it keep West Ham down the wrong end of the pitch, but it was also the only way they were going to be assured of victory. Chelsea created half chances but could not find that elusive goal. More importantly for the hosts is that they managed to keep The Hammers at bay.
Deep into added time they threw more players forward and Kudus had the chance to grab an equaliser but Tosin made a superb block to deny him. It was a goal-saving challenge as you could see the effort had Jorgensen beaten. Chelsea held on for the win and with it moved up to fourth place in the Premier League table.
This Chelsea team is very much a work in progress under Enzo Maresca. To talk about title challenges is just lunacy, they are so far away from that. The more realistic ambition is to try and get fourth spot and with It Champions League football. If they can do that, the revenues will help the club massively to balance the books for PSR purposes.
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