Arnautovic strikes Hammer blow to Chelsea title bid
LONDON: David Moyes claimed his first win as West Ham United manager after Marko Arnautovic’s goal gave the Premier League strugglers a shock 1-0 win over champions Chelsea on Saturday.
Arnautovic, the Hammers’ £24 million ($32.1 million, 27.3 million euros) record signing, struck in the sixth minute to earn Moyes his first win in his fifth game since succeeding Slaven Bilic.
While the Austrian’s neat strike boosted his side’s hopes of climbing out of the bottom three, it dealt a severe blow to Chelsea’s hopes of defending their title.
Victory would have moved Antonio Conte’s side level on points with second-place Manchester United and closed the gap to leaders Manchester City to eight points, 24 hours before the top two meet at Old Trafford.
Instead, Chelsea head coach Conte will now watch that game knowing his side could lose yet more ground in the title race.
The Italian was left frustrated by his team’s under-par display, which was summed up by a late miss from top scorer Alvaro Morata.
For Moyes, the win confirmed West Ham’s steady progress since he took charge and justified his team selection, including the decision to stick with goalkeeper Adrian and not recall England international Joe Hart.
The Hammers manager also opted to start without a recognised striker, with Andy Carroll, Javier Hernandez, Andre Ayew and Diafra Sakho held back on the bench.
Instead, Moyes asked Michail Antonio to fill the lone forward role and the move had the desired effect as the hard-working home side went ahead via Arnautovic’s early strike.
Last weekend’s narrow defeat at Manchester City appeared to have instilled confidence in Moyes’s side, who demonstrated no fear in taking the game to Chelsea.
That belief was summed up in the way they carved open the visitors’ defence to force the breakthrough.
Arnautovic exchanged passes with Manuel Lanzini before wrong-footing Cesar Azpilicueta and placing the ball beyond Thibaut Courtois with his left foot. - AFP