It was nightmare debut for Moises Caicedo as West Ham made light of their one-man disadvantage to thrash Chelsea in London Derby.
After settling for a dramatic 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in the opening weekend, the Blues needed a win against their London neighbors to cap their revamp under new manager, Mauricio Pochettino.
The Blues went into the game as the second most successful London club with 149 derby wins, a win behind Arsenal, who have racked up 150 wins in London derbies.
A win against West Ham would have put the Blue side of London at par with their most competitive neighbors Arsenal.
Starting Lineup
West Ham: Alphonse Areola; Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson; James Ward-Prowse, Tomas Soucek; Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Said Benrahma; Michail Antonio.
Chelsea: Robert Sanchez; Axel Disasi, Thiago Silva, Levi Colwill; Malo Gusto, Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher, Ben Chilwell; Raheem Sterling, Nicolas Jackson, Carney Chukwuemeka.
Chelsea started proceedings on the front foot but were effectively contained by the Hammers.
Both sides struggled to dominate proceedings early in the game with West Ham capitalizing on a roaring home fans to maintain a slight advantage on the attack.
The reigning Conference League champions won the first corner of the game in the 6th minute after Robert Sanchez punched off an attempt.
Ward-Prowse brought his prowess on set pieces to bear as he delivered the corner kick into the box aiming on Aguerd. Aguerd was left unmarked by Gallagher. He rose high up into the air and brilliantly head home the ball to give West Ham the lead.
After Aguerd’s goal, the game took on a more frantic pace. Chelsea plunged forward with more players as they make attempts to find an equaliser.
The Blues came close to netting the equaliser in the 15th minute when Ben Chilwell delivered a brilliant cross to Nicolas Jackson but the former Villarreal forward’s header flew above the crossbar.
Chelsea continue to mount pressure on West Ham defence, pressing the hosts back into their half throughout the game.
After a marathon of pressure, the visitors finally broke the goal deadlock with last summer’s signing from Aston Villa, Carney Chibueze Chukwuemeka, 19, scoring a brilliant goal to level the scores.
Chukwuemeka picked up a rebound from Ben Chilwell’s cross on the left side of West Ham’s box and skillfully dribbled pass West Ham defender Soucek before firing a bending strike into the far corner.
The game was finely poised for a thrilling first half finish but the two sides could not find the back of the net again. Enzo Fernandez missed a 43rd-minute spotkick that would have given Chelsea the lead before the first half break. West Ham goalkeeper, Alphonse Areola, denied the prolific midfielder a chance to score his first goal for Chelsea.
Chelsea started the second half in control of proceedings with West Ham dropping deep to defend.
The Blues’ high-press up the field was occasionally countered by West Ham’s quick counters when they won possession.
In the 53rd minute, the home side were back again into the lead despite playing second fiddle to the Blues. Ward-Prowse sent a long ball to Antonio who paced pass Axel Disasi before firing into the bottom-left corner to steer the Hammers into the lead from nowhere.
Mauricio Pochettino brought off Ben Chilwell in the 66th minute bringing on the club’s most expensive signing Moises Caicedo as the Argentine pressed the button to overturn the one-goal deficit.
Chelsea were still incharge of proceedings but could not level the scores with few minutes left on the clock.
West Ham were down to 10 men after Aguerd saw his second yellow card and was sent off due to a sliding tackle on Nicolas Jackson.
The dismissal of Aguerd handed Chelsea a big boost but West Ham dropped deeper as they tenaciously held onto the narrow lead.
Chelsea push harder for a goal to level the scores all to no avail as West Ham pulled a strong defensive display to preserve the lead.
While the Blues ramped up attempts to restore parity, Caicedo conceded a penalty after his clumsy tackle on Emerson.
Manchester city target Paqueta converted the spotkick with a cool finish to extend the lead and kill off the game in the critical minutes.
The match ended with Chelsea suffering a shock 3-1 defeat to 10-man West Ham as their winless start to the season continues.
