THE FAB & THE DRAB
Wonder save from Lukasz earns Hammers a point but for sloppy Blues it’s almost a Greek tragedy
GREECE is the word Chelsea will be reflecting on after their 100 per cent record ended here.
Maurizio Sarri and his men rolled into the London Stadium still carrying their duty-free bags after their extended Europa League stop-over in Thessaloniki on Thursday night.
They left east London lucky to still have their unbeaten record intact.
In fact they were fortunate even to grab a point after West Ham’s £17.5milllion winger Andriy Yarmolenko blew a glorious chance late on to take all three.
What is it about Chelsea on this side of the capital?
They have now won just one of their last four matches at West Ham and, with Lukasz Fabianski in inspired form between the posts for Hammers, they rarely looked like improving that statistic yesterday.
He stood tall to block an Alvaro Morata effort with his chin and then produced the moment of the game with a magnificent diving save to deny Ross Barkley.
Two weeks ago panicky fans were worrying that, based on their upcoming fixtures, Manuel Pellegrini’s side were already doomed to relegation.
Jumping the gun didn’t begin to sum it up, with ludicrous suggestions that Pellegrini – having been backed to the tune of around £100m by the Hammers board – could be sacked after just four Premier League games.
A fortnight on and four points have been safely banked from Everton away and the supposedly new-look Chelsea at home.
Manchester United head to the London Stadium next weekend. With confidence now bubbling in these parts and Jose Mourinho’s side decidedly vulnerable, that’s a fixture Hammers fans will consider is winnable. But back to Chelsea. As gutted as they might be to lose their 100 per cent record, they will also know full well that they should have suffered their
first defeat of the season. Robert Snodgrass had come off the bench to curl a delicious ball, left to right, to the far post. But Yarmolenko, with the goal at his mercy, somehow headed wide.
Striker Marko Arnautovic, injured and watching the game from the stands, rose to his feet disgusted. He’d have scored it for sure. His frustration was obvious.
Chelsea may point to the lack of time they had to prepare for this game but West Ham had no striker. Winger Michael Antonio, some way away from the force he once was, had to be pressed into emergency service up front.
Chelsea simply couldn’t take advantage. Eden Hazard looked to be labouring under the pressure of Sarri’s claim that he could score as many as 40 goals this season.
Willian could neither find his range nor his stride until late on when he outpaced Pablo Zabaleta to set up N’Golo Kante, who blasted wide.
Morata’s goal drought continues. The Spaniard insists his best is yet to come this season but neither he nor Olivier Giroud could make any impression on a wellorganised Hammers defence.
And, as a matter of fact, West Ham blew an even earlier chance to upset the odds.
On the half-hour the superb Declan Rice dissected the Chelsea defence with a diagonal ball to set Yarmolenko free. The Ukrainian was closed down in the box but Antonio had his fierce shot from the loose ball saved by Blues goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
They will need more than this in the League Cup at Liverpool on Wednesday and the Premier League next weekend against Jurgen Klopp’s side at Stamford Bridge. Play like this against the leaders and Chelsea will be in serious trouble.