THE ART OF VICTORY
Moyes hails Masuaku for ‘a great cross’
ARTHUR MASUAKA’S bizarre late strike and not one, but two collectors’ item mistakes from Edouard Mendy saw Chelsea drop vital points in the title race.
Mendy has barely put a foot wrong since joining the Blues 15 months ago.
But, first, he conceded a penalty – albeit after being put under pressure by Jorginho’s hospital pass – from which Manuel Lanzini scored to cancel out Thiago Silva’s opener.
And he was then somehow beaten at his near post late on by a Masuaku effort that, given the way he shaped to strike the ball, just had to be a cross, but still drifted in.
Mason Mount and Jarrod Bowen, the two top performers on each side, had both scored lovely goals and the game looked to be heading for a draw before substitute Masuaku settled matters.
The victory was just the pick-me-up West Ham needed after two defeats and a draw in their last three Premier League fixtures had threatened to undermine their fine start to the season.
While defeat was a kick in the teeth for Chelsea, who were not at it in the way boss Thomas Tuchel would have liked for the third game in succession after the draw against Manchester United and the victory they edged against Watford in midweek.
Tuchel (below) said: “We have crucial ball losses in situations and zones where we simply cannot have them if you want to keep clean sheets and dominate games, to protect yourself against counterattacks.
“We did that now three times in a row, simply too much.
“We cannot give any excuses that we are tired. It’s normal to be tired playing in the Premier League through winter.
“It’s a question of absolute focus, detail, precision and risk management – where do you take the risks and where you absolutely don’t.
“If you invite a team like West Ham into your own box, into the last 20 metres by giving big ball losses, then you are in trouble. This is a no-brainer.”
To be fair to the Blues, they had conceded only two goals away from home all season prior to his game and, in 53 fixtures under Tuchel, this was only the third time they have conceded more than one goal.
The goal that beat them was a lucky one, too, with West Ham manager David Moyes joking: “It was a great cross.”
He was not too happy with the first-half performance, but was thrilled with the way they came out after the break and, of course, the result.
Moyes said: “We can play much better than we did.
“The first half we didn’t play well enough – in the second half we improved.”
He was full of praise for Bowen, who was excellent, adding: “It’s probably the best Jarrod has been for a while.
“His form has been a little bit up and down, but he was back to the kind of levels we expect from him.”
West Ham were quickly on the front foot, but it was Chelsea who went ahead shortly before the half-hour when Silva headed home Mount’s corner.
A minute later, Vladimir Coufal’s shot beat Mendy, but was cleared by the Chelsea defender, who had read the danger superbly and got back to clear his lines. The Hammers did find a way through soon after when Jorginho’s back-pass put Mendy in trouble.
The goalkeeper should have cleared it first time.
But he took a touch to allow Bowen in and then brought him down for a penalty which Lanzini converted.
Mount’s superbly struck volley fired Chelsea back ahead just a minute before half-time.
But Tuchel was forced to make a change during the break, with striker Kai Havertz unable to play on following a challenge from Irons centre-back Kurt Zouma, substitute Romelu Lukaku coming on.
Former Chelsea defender Zouma would limp off himself later and West Ham also lost full-back Ben Johnson to injury.
The Hammers were sharper after half-time than they had been in the last moments of the first half and Bowen’s fine drive brought them level.
He then went close to putting his side ahead, but could not get enough on striker Michael Antonio’s centre and Chelsea got away with it.
Until, that was, Masuaku’s cross flew in to everyone’s astonishment.
And, unsurprisingly, the London Stadium erupted.