West Ham 3 Chelsea 1: Antonio rocket enough for 10-man Hammers as Poch left with headache despite huge transfer outlay
MONEY makes the world go round, but it is taking its sweet time with Chelsea.
American owner Todd Boehly has thrown nearly £1billion at his ambitious West London project since arriving in the summer of 2022, with very little to show for it so far.
There have been several bumps in the road already, backed up with the promise that, given time, results will be seen on the pitch.
At the London Stadium, we saw glimpses of that. Nicolas Jackson looks the real deal up top with his pace and power. Raheem Sterling was back to his scintillating best. Carney Chukwuemeka continued his impressive recent form with a stunning equaliser.
Mauricio Pochettino will slowly but surely turn this star-studded group of mega-money purchases into a proper team.
And yet, Chelsea begin this new campaign with one point from a possible six. Too early to draw serious conclusions, but the need for a victory is already looking urgent.
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Chukwuemeka later left the field injured. Enzo Fernandez missed a penalty. £115m record signing Moises Caicedo gave away a penalty on his debut. Much for Poch to ponder.
For West Ham, a vital victory. While the draw away to Bournemouth in their Prem opener was flat and timid, this performance had some bite to it, as well as some quality.
On his Hammers debut, James Ward-Prowse stole the show, doing exactly what he was brought in to do with his wand of a right foot.
First, a superb corner finding the free head of Nayef Aguerd in the seventh minute, and then after the break picking out Michail Antonio over the top to retake the lead.
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Lucas Paqueta – currently under investigation over potential betting breaches – was at the heart of everything, and had the final word with the injury time spot-kick to seal the deal.
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Transfer business has been slow in East London since the £105m departure of skipper Declan Rice to Arsenal, but this result – as well as another debut for new-boy Edson Alvarez – will only boost the morale around these parts.
The only negative for the afternoon was Aguerd’s 67th minute sending off for a clumsy and unnecessary second yellow.
Boss David Moyes kept to his word and started Ward-Prowse in midfield.
Poch had £115m record signing Moises Caicedo at his disposal but opted to start the Ecuadorian on the bench. Fellow midfield arrival Romeo Lavia was left out of the squad, while Ben Chilwell replaced the injured Reece James as captain.
The decision to leave out Caicedo was brought into the spotlight as West Ham started the stronger. Ward-Prowse tested the waters with a fifth minute corner, and two minutes later left his mark.
A devilishly whipped delivery onto the head of Aguerd. The marking, or lack of, from Conor Gallagher was questionable, but it was a goal that woke the visitors up.
Jackson was brought down in the box by an onrushing Alphonse Areola after Fernandez picked him out from deep, only to be brought back for a narrow VAR-confirmed offside.
Chelsea exerted some control, but West Ham had initiated a low-block they were more than comfortable in sticking to until a bit of magic from the foot of Chukwuemeka in the 28th minute.
Zouma’s slack clearance found the feet of the 19-year-old, whose drop of the shoulder sent Tomas Soucek flailing and curled into the far corner for his first Prem strike.
Sterling was beginning to enjoy himself, and after Paqueta dribbled one onto the post, the England international won his side a penalty in the 42nd minute with a driving run.
Soucek topped off a poor period by slicing Sterling down. VAR confirmed the foul was in the box, and Fernandez stepped up. His effort was tame, and easily stopped by Areola.
Poch’s mood was worsened when Chukwuemeka hobbled off into half time, replaced by Mykhailo Mudryk.
Rest bite for the hosts, yet the second half looked to be going the same way. Sterling was electric with ball at feet. Axel Disasi less so, and his half-way line fumble was gifted to Ward-Prowse.
Another sublime pick-out, this time for Antonio in the 53rd minute. The only real surprise was the way the inconsistent forward finished with such confidence into the bottom corner.
Poch reacted by bringing on Caicedo, and Aguerd reacted by getting himself sent off after a needless lunge on Jackson. Moyes reacted by bringing on Angelo Ogbonna.
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Chelsea’s fluidity in attack had stalled. The final period of the game was gritty, playing right into the hands of Moyes, who thumped the air with anger at the full-time whistle.
Delight in East London. Plenty of work to do over in the West.
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