In the sixth English Premier League match of the season, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea and West Ham United squared off at Stamford Bridge.
The Thomas Tuchel team has been inconsistent in their last five matches, winning twice, drawing one (against Tottenham), and losing twice.
For the match against West Ham United, Thomas Tuchel made five changes to his lineup, including giving new signing Wesley Fofana his debut.
Chelsea squad: Mendy, Fofana, Thiago Silva (captain), Koulibaly, James, Gallagher, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Cucurella, Pulisic, and Sterling are Chelsea’s other key players.
Substitutes: Kepa, Azpilicueta, Chilwell, Chalobah, Jorginho, Mount, Ziyech, Broja, and Havertz.
West Ham United: Rice (captain), Bowen, Paqueta, Fornals, Antonio, Coufal, Kehrer, Zouma, Emerson.
Substitutes: Areola, Randolph, Ogbonna, Coventry, Downes, Benrahma, Cornet, and Lanzini.
Ahead of the game, Cesar Azpilicueta was replaced on the right by Reece James, who missed Chelsea’s game against Southampton due to sickness, and Marc Cucurella stayed on the left.
Conor Gallagher returned from suspension and Mateo Kovacic made his first start of the year in midfield. Ruben Loftus-Cheek also started after recovering from the hamstring injury he sustained against Southampton.
Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic joined the attack, leaving out Jorginho, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, and Hakim Ziyech.
At 3 p.m., the first half of the game began as both London teams attempted to slowly build their open play from the back.
Both teams got off to a slow start, but in the 27th minute, Christian Pulisic had his first real opportunity when Lucas Paqueta of West Ham blocked a shot he had after a cross from Reece James was cleared out to the American international.
The second half got off to a more promising start as Fofana attempted to score from long range but failed while Michail Antonio was stopped by Conor Gallagher as the striker launched a West Ham counterattack.
In the 57th minute, Bowen’s pushed Marc Cucurella into a stop, and in the 62nd minute, the West Ham attacker tested Mendy with a volley, the game’s first shot on goal.
Paqueta flicked the ball on, and Mendy flopped at the ensuing corner highlighting a confidence issue and allowing Declan Rice to square for Antonio to score from close range.
Ben Chilwell took advantage of Lukasz Fabianski’s moment of insanity in the 76th minute to score for Chelsea by shooting through the goalkeeper’s legs when he hesitated after the left-back flicked on a long ball.
With two minutes remaining in regulation, substitute Havertz connected with a cross from Chilwell to finish Chelsea’s comeback. Cornet quickly retaliated, but Chelsea emerged victorious.
The thrilling 2-1 comeback victory for Chelsea over West Ham United was secured by Kai Havertz’s 88th-minute goal after VAR overturned Maxwel Cornet’s late equalizer.
Cornet scored in the 90th minute after a Chelsea blunder at the back, but the goal was disallowed because Jarrod Bowen was judged to have fouled Mendy in the build to the goal.
