Kai Havertz came off the bench to seal a much-needed victory for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, as the Blues came from behind to beat London competitors West Ham 2-1.
Thomas Tuchel’s team had been booed off after failing to control a single shot on goal in a dismal first half, and fell behind rapidly after the hour when Antonio converted following a goalmouth scramble.
But Ben Chilwell poked previous Lukasz Fabianski to level the scores with 15 minutes remaining, and Havertz was on hand to flip the full-back’s pass home to put the Blues in advance late on.
There was still time for Maxwel Cornet to see a nice strike disallowed for West Ham, however Chelsea eventually held on to bounce back from Tuesday’s loss to Southampton after an enthralling match.
Chelsea wished 27 minutes to register a shot during a drab first-half overall performance as Christian Pulisic’s effort deflected away, before Mateo Kovacic drilled a 25-yard effort wide.
That was once the sum of the Blues’ efforts earlier than the break, however, and West Ham nearly hit the the front on the hour when Edouard Mendy palmed Jarrod Bowen’s volley wide.
Mendy was helpless to stop Chelsea from falling behind from the subsequent corner; with the Senegal global rooted, Antonio poked home from Declan Rice’s cut-back, sending the travelling fans wild.
But Chelsea levelled matters up with a quarter of an hour remaining, as Chilwell added down Thiago Silva’s high ball to end beyond Fabianski, before Cornet nodded against the submit as West Ham regarded for a second.
Chilwell then turned provider with 87 minutes on the clock, getting to the byline earlier than firing a low move into Havertz, who converted to put the Blues in the ascendency.
Chelsea had to survive one last scare, however, as Cornet saw a fierce right-footed finish ruled out after Bowen was adjudged to have fouled Mendy.
Having produced a dismal showing in a 2-1 defeat at Southampton last time out, Chelsea were staring at a third defeat in their first six games of the Premier League season when Antonio put the Irons ahead.
Chelsea have only lost three of their opening six games of a Premier League campaign once – when they went on to finish 10th in 2015-16.
Thankfully for Tuchel, Chilwell and Havertz marked their second-half introductions with a goal apiece to take Chelsea to 10 points from their early-season outings.
Chelsea leave it late… again
Even after Chilwell’s equaliser, Chelsea appeared unlikely to snatch a victory against a resolute West Ham rearguard, but Havertz stepped up as the Blues’ penchant for late goals continued.
Chelsea have scored three goals in the final 15 minutes of Premier League games this term – only Brentford and Liverpool (five each) have managed more.
Moyes continues dire run
David Moyes must be wondering what he has to do to win at Stamford Bridge – the West Ham manager has now failed to win in 18 Premier League visits to Chelsea (seven draws, 11 defeats).
That is the joint-longest winless streak managed by any coach at a specific opponent in the competition, with Moyes also failing to record a victory in 18 visits to Arsenal.
What’s next?
Chelsea begin their Champions League campaign at Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday, while West Ham are in continental action two days later when they host FCSB in the Europa Conference League.
Credit: Livescore
