Maurizio’s men hit more trouble to end perfect run

straight into the knee of keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. Remarkably, something approaching an atmosphere was breaking out in the London Stadium.

Chelsea, owners of the lion’s share of possession, were not without chances but they were mainly from long range and posed little real threat to keeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Too often the focus was on trying to thread a way through the heart of the Hammers defence and for once, it wasn’t having it.

When the Blues were forced to go wide – for instance from Willian’s corner 10 minutes into the second half – West

Ham did show some vulnerability, standing still as David Luiz fired a free header over the bar carelessly from six yards.

The replacement of Olivier Giroud with Alvaro Morata in the 65th minute suggested there was no intention to put regular crosses on the agenda.

However, the move nearly paid off within a minute when the substitute pounced on a ball that bounced off the shins of Luiz, only to dink his shot straight into the face of Fabianski. West Ham were beginning to lose the shape that had enabled them to play such sweeping counterattacking football in the first half as Chelsea continued to plug away at them.

And then Pellegrini’s side should have snatched it.

In a rare attack, sub Robert Snodgrass clipped a perfect 78th-minute cross to the far post where the Chelsea defence had allowed Yarmolenko to drift into the perfect position to meet it.

The Man With The Goals? If only.

Instead, he somehow contrived to steer his header wide of the post with the entire goal to aim for. N’Golo Kante, on the back of a rare below-par performance, was almost as guilty with a rising shot at the other end of the pitch.

Then the midfielder was the one flagged offside in the build-up when Morata did finally put the ball in the net with a minute of normal time left.

Even then, there was still time for both Ross Barkley and Willian to go close as Chelsea pushed hard to keep their 100 per cent run going.

Ultimately, though, it was Yarmolenko’s glaring miss that meant instead of celebrating a memorable derby win of their own, West Ham fans had to content themselves with a well-earned point and the hopeful belief that things might just be about to get better under Pellegrini.

It is a long time since their glasses were even half-full.

Although goodness knows how many empties there are hidden around the back of the sponsors’ lounge when, in a final twist that the match itself lacked, the Ukrainian was given the official man-of-the-match award.