Chelsea beat West Ham 2-1 with goals off the bench from Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz. They came back from 1-0 behind and there was also some late VAR controversy as Maxwel Cornet saw his goal in the 90th minute disallowed.
Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and Jorginho were on the bench as Mateo Kovacic and Conor Gallagher returned to midfield with Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Wesley Fofana made his debut at right centre back as Reece James started at right wing back. Gallagher seemed to start in a more advanced role on the right ahead of Kovacic and Loftus-Cheek.
How Chelsea lined up at the start of the game
Pulisic and Sterling started upfront. This meant that crosses into the box were not very effective. Long balls were also difficult to play as the players used were not the most physical. No one was really in the penalty area in advanced positions. Crosses put in were easy to defend as the players used were not very physical or in the right areas. Chelsea had to use space in behind and passing angles but this proved to be difficult.
Despite dominating possession, West Ham were able to deal with Chelsea’s limited attacks quite easily in the first half. They were compact and put men behind the ball as well as being physical.
No substitutions were made at half-time. In the second half frustrations continued as shots were not taken early enough with both Pulisic and Sterling being crowded out before they could take a shot.
Chelsea’s corners were not productive again despite having 10 of them. To make matters worse they were punished by West Ham after a set piece of their own. Mendy made an error as his punch from a cross went straight to Declan Rice who passed to Michail Antonio who tapped in from close range for the opening goal.
The substitutions made by Thomas Tuchel made a big difference. There was more presence in attack with first Broja and then Havertz coming on. They ended up playing together and this may be a good option to consider going forward with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Broja provided more of a focal point and occupied the defenders. He won 4/5 of his duels (ground and aerial). He was also involved in the build up to the winning goal.
Ben Chilwell proved to be highly effective off the bench. Stats don’t show it all but his energy and drive led to both goals. He scored the first and provided Havertz with a great cross for the other. The first was an accomplished finish through the legs of Lukasz Fabianski from a tight angle.
The changes were quite risky as it meant there was only one player in the number six role towards the end of the game. First Loftus-Cheek was in this role then Jorginho came on to replace him. Jorginho lost the ball and West Ham almost took the lead through substitute Maxwel Cornet who hit the post with a header. Chelsea scored what proved to be the winner shortly after this.
A more attacking looking formation shown with Mount and Sterling behind Broja and Havertz
A goal scored by Cornet for West Ham in the last minute of normal time which would have been an equaliser was ruled out for a foul on Mendy by VAR. This was a marginal decision in my opinion and Mendy and Chelsea were lucky with the reprieve through VAR. Jarrod Bowen was adjudged to have fouled Mendy in the buildup. The ball was gone after he parried it out but Bowen left his leg in.
Mendy VAR incident via Chelsea TV highlights
VAR in general has issues as was seen in the Cucurella incident against Spurs and numerous others for Chelsea and other teams. The technology doesn’t seem to be as efficient and exact as it is in some other sports and seems more prone to human error.
Some Stats-
Thiago Silva continued his great form illustrated with some impressive stats. He completed the most passes and also won the most tackles and duels in the game.
96/103 passes completed (93%)
1 chance created
1 assist
4/6 accurate long balls
3/3 tackles won
1 clearance
2 interceptions
7 ball recoveries
6/7 ground duels
2/3 aerial duels
Team stats via Fotmob
Chelsea had significantly higher possession and accurate passes but only started shooting and creating more chances after the changes. They also had slightly lower expected goals then the Hammers.
Stat via Opta - Chelsea came from behind to win a Premier League home game after conceding the opening goal in the second half, for the first time since January 2009, against Stoke City (also 2-1).
Thomas Tuchel was pleased with the team's ability to show mental strength to win the game after being frustrated for a significant proportion of it. He also praised the impact of the substitutes.
“We wanted to restart the season today and hopefully the way we did it in a home game and the impact from the bench gives us the belief back, the confidence back that you need to play at the highest level.”
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