WHAM, BAM, THANK YOU, TAM!
HAMMERS SUNK BY QUICK DOUBLE FROM ABRAHAM
TAMMY ABRAHAM’S late double sent Chelsea back up to fifth place after a commanding London derby victory over West Ham last night.
Thiago Silva headed the Blues ahead early on but they had to wait until late on for Abraham’s brace to confirm the three points at Stamford Bridge.
After back-to-back Premier League defeats on the road at Everton and Wolves, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard brought in Cesar Azpilicueta, Jorginho and Abraham. Hammers boss David Moyes gave club captain Mark Noble a first start since the opening day of the season and it was the visitors who thought they had struck first.
Declan Rice produced a superb finish from a very tight angle, against the club who released him aged 14, on seven minutes but had strayed offside.
The home side lost left-back Ben Chilwell to an injured ankle, on his 24th birthday, shortly afterwards.
And with ten minutes played, the hosts opened the scoring. Mason Mount – Rice’s best friend – sent in a corner which the unmarked Silva met with a thumping header to give the Blues the lead, the first set-piece goal conceded by the Hammers this term.
Abraham then had the ball in the net but it had earlier gone out of play and was ruled out, while Jarrod Bowen was denied at the other end after a foul on Silva in the build-up.
Timo Werner – without a goal in eight matches before kick-off – hit the crossbar late on and missed another good chance but played a role in the important second with 12 minutes left.
His low ball in from the left allowed Abraham to get the slightest of touches to nudge it past Lukasz Fabianski. Within two minutes, Abraham pounced again to seal the win after Fabianski had kept out Christian Pulisic’s header.