CLEVER MOYES EXPOSES CHELSEA

West Ham look serious top four contenders, but what’s happened to Tuchel’s men?

SO what if he did not mean it? Arthur Masuaku raised a sheepish arm in the air to acknowledge his goal and his team-mates swamped him in a bundle of celebration.

Certainly the vast majority of the London Stadium were not debating whether Masuaku’s swerving effort, which deceived Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy, was a cross or shot. They were too busy celebrating amid the kitsch release of soap bubbles that accompany a goal here.

‘Fortune’s always hiding,’ they roared at the end, without irony, because that is how you traditionally celebrate a famous West Ham win. And this was undoubtedly a famous West Ham win. Not because they were superb. They were not. ‘We played better against Liverpool,’ said manager David Moyes. ‘We can play much better… we didn’t play well enough first half.’

No, it was famous primarily because it was against those upstart arrivistes from west London who have stolen West Ham’s thunder over the years. But also because it was a statement of intent. It was a victory which marked out West Ham’s credentials.

Going into Christmas, struggling with injuries as they are, West Ham look a proper top-four team and a serious football club. Under par in the first half, a few tactical adjustments and a couple of superb displays from Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio, and the European champions were wilting. A welldrilled back three and an intelligent plan was enough to undo them.

Thomas Tuchel was unimpressed understandably. No one has scored more than one against Chelsea this season. Here, a below-par Jorginho — he is playing with a hip injury, Tuchel says — and with Mendy bereft of judgment and confidence, a once-secure back three looked a little hapless. All three goals they conceded were avoidable, even if the last one was a huge fluke.

‘What we clearly see is that we give easy goals away,’ said Tuchel. ‘This is really unusual. We make big mistakes that make big chances. We do this now in three match days: Manchester United, Watford and again today. If you do this at this kind of level, you cannot expect to have a result.

‘We are not good enough in the details at the moment. There’s no need to ask big questions or start doubting the big picture. Without doing big mistakes, there’s a big chance we win. It’s a question of absolute focus, of detail, precision and risk management: where do you take the risks and where you don’t take the risk. If you invite a team like West Ham United into your own box, into the last 20 metres by giving big ball losses, then you are in trouble. This is a no-brainer.’

Chelsea’s title credentials have taken a battering during the last week. They won at Watford, unconvincingly. They lost here and drew with a vulnerable Manchester United.

Without immediate attention, form like this can see titles slip away before Christmas. Injuries are playing their part, but that is a given at every club. That said, Tuchel cannot say when N’Golo Kante will play again and that is the biggest miss of all.

Mateo Kovacic remains out and Jorginho, apparently with that sore hip, is so far below par you wonder if he should be playing. And then there is Mendy. ‘He is going through a rough period,’ agreed Tuchel. ‘I don’t know why exactly. It seems he has lost a bit of confidence.’

What positives could Chelsea take? Thiago Silva was superb in the first half. He headed Chelsea ahead from Mason Mount’s corner

after 28 minutes when West Ham’s marking went AWOL. A minute later he cleared off the line when Valdimir Coufal’s volley on the bounce beat Mendy. At that stage, Chelsea looked in control.

And they scored by far the best goal of the afternoon for 2-1, just before half-time. Tomas Soucek was muscled off the ball by Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Striding forwards — the space he was afforded was scandalous — he released Hakim Ziyech. From there, the football was sublime. First Ziyech’s floated cross, which was delightful and then Mount’s stunning first-time volley. Baby-faced Mount looks the picture of innocence but enjoyed a celebration in front of the West Ham fans, tongue out and ears cupped. He might not have tried that in the old days in front of the Chicken Run.

But prior to that, the capacity for Chelsea to unravel had been clear. They were dominating possession, yet without much incision, when, after 38 minutes, Bowen did what he had been threatening all half and embarrassed Mendy. Teams suspect a weakness in the Chelsea’s goalkeeper’s distribution and Bowen would not leave him alone.

A slightly under-hit pass from Jorginho and a second of hesitancy was Bowen’s cue to rob the goalkeeper. Even so, Bowen was facing away from goal so there was no

need for the Mendy to panic, dive in and concede a penalty. Manuel Lanzini nailed it for 1-1.

Half-time came and went and West Ham emerged the stronger. The back three remained but Bowen pushed on a little higher and he and Antonio pressed a lot harder. After 56 minutes, Soucek’s searching pass allowed them to find Antonio. Chelsea failed to clear the header and Coufal teed up Bowen, who shot early through Andreas Christensen’s legs and beat Mendy from the edge of the box for 2-2.

So to the denouement. Sure, West Ham got lucky. But only because Antonio was furiously closing down the ball to force a throw-in. And only because Masuaku was alert enough to take it quickly and Antonio keen enough to make a run to stretch Chelsea’s defence and lay it back to Masuaku. It is true that Masuaku was fortunate, in that his sweeping cross deceived Mendy and the ripple of net surprised him as much as the goalkeeper.

‘Was it a cross or was it shot?’ Masuaku tweeted later. ‘Hint: I was as surprised as you.’ Still, Masuaku and West Ham were just revising the old Gary Player line: the harder you try and the more you press, the luckier you get.