Sports
CHELSEA returned to the top four in the Premier League after coming from behind to beat West Ham on former manager Graham Potter’s return to Stamford Bridge.
After fellow top-four contenders Manchester City and Newcastle lost at the weekend, the Blues were made to work hard for the three points by the visitors who led through Jarrod Bowen at the break.
But substitute Pedro Neto equalised for Enzo Maresca’s side in the second half before Cole Palmer’s cross looped over Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, which took a big deflection off Aaron Wan-Bissaka to gift the win to the home side.
Bowen, who was out of action since fracturing his foot in a defeat by Liverpool on 29 December, pounced on a misplaced backpass from centre-back Levi Colwill before finishing past Filip Jorgensen to pull Potter’s side ahead in the closing stages of the first half.
Maresca brought on Neto and Marc Guiu early in the second half to turn things around, and it was the former who helped his side find a way back.
Marc Cucurella did well to keep Neto’s deep cross in play for Enzo Fernandez to strike at goal, and the Argentine’s shot was blocked by Vladimir Coufal, only for the Portugal winger to restore parity on the rebound.
Chelsea were much improved after finding the equaliser and an unfortunate intervention from Wan-Bissaka secured the victory for the hosts 10 minutes later.
The result helps Chelsea climb to fourth with 43 points – two more than Manchester City and Newcastle – while Potter’s side remain 15th with 27 points.
Maresca hails Blues’ ‘important statement’
Chelsea and Maresca came into this London derby in desperate need of a win, having slipped from second place to sixth in the space of six weeks with just six points from their past seven games.
But with Manchester City crumbling to a 5-1 defeat at Arsenal and Newcastle losing 2-1 at home to Fulham, the Blues made the opportunity count and underlined their top-four credentials with a solid second-half fightback.
“We are there and hopefully we can be there until the end. Playing this kind of game in February, where we are still there is an important statement,” Maresca said.
“It was a good weekend for us in terms of [other] results and we knew today was even better.”
The Italian handed goalkeeping duties to Filip Jorgensen in place of Robert Sanchez, who was at fault for Erling Haaland’s goal at Etihad Stadium last week.
“In this moment, Robert needs rest and Filip was very good,” the Chelsea boss said, explaining the reasoning behind his selection.
But it was Colwill’s individual error that led to them conceding this time.
It meant Chelsea have now made five errors leading to a goal in their past six league games with only bottom side Southampton (17) and Aston Villa (11) making more errors leading to goals this season than Chelsea (10).
With the visitors looking organised at the back, Chelsea’s best chances in the first half came through quick breaks as Noni Madueke curled an effort past the far post after played through by Nicolas Jackson.
Enzo Fernandez and Jadon Sancho also dragged shots wide after Madueke played them through inside the box, before Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola produced a stunning fingertip save to keep out a Palmer free-kick during the dying seconds of the first half.
However, early substitutions in the second period energised Chelsea, with Neto coming off the bench to float in a cross and wreak havoc in the West Ham box before making his way into the middle to grab the equaliser in the 64th minute.
Palmer then helped Chelsea go ahead with a touch of fortune, and the hosts held on to their slender advantage to claim what might prove a crucial win in the race for Champions League football.
No joy for Potter on Chelsea return
Potter was appointed to usher in a new era at Chelsea under their new owners in 2022, but only lasted seven months with the Blues losing 11 of his 31 games in charge.
Returning to Stamford Bridge in the opposition dugout, Potter, who this week described his Chelsea sacking as perhaps the “best thing” that happened to him, would have hoped for a happier evening.
But West Ham’s valiant display was not enough to salvage a point on Monday.
“I thought the performance was really good, lots of good things. I thought we were intelligent tactically,” Potter said after the game.
Potter was without the influential Lucas Paqueta, who picked up a groin injury in the 1-1 draw at Aston Villa, but was boosted by the return from injury of captain Bowen, who featured for the first time in 2025.
West Ham were the better side in the first half, with Bowen forcing a save out of Jorgensen before capitalising on Colwill’s mistake for the opener as Chelsea struggled to find an opening at the other end.
Potter would also feel hard done by as West Ham had shouts for a foul by Colwill on Bowen waved away by referee Stuart Attwell leading up to Chelsea’s equaliser, before Neto’s goal stood after a lengthy video assistant referee (VAR) review to check if Cucurella was offside in the build-up.
“We felt a little bit unlucky with the first goal – we thought there might have been a foul leading up to it. Sometimes you need those things to go your way but it wasn’t meant to be,” the former Brighton boss said.
Kudus also hit the upright with a header, albeit from an offside position, before Chelsea forced the winner.
“We could have nicked a point with Mo and I think we would have deserved that,” Potter added.
With London derbies against Brentford and Arsenal in their next two games, Potter will hope his West Ham side take heart from a fighting display at Stamford Bridge.
bbcsport
A.I
Feb. 4, 2025
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