EPL – What We Learned – Chelsea 2 West Ham United 2

EPL – What We Learned – Chelsea 2 West Ham United 2

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Chelsea snatched a 2-2 draw at home, thanks to a dying-gasp penalty from Cesc Fabregas.

West Ham’s campaign for a Champions League place suffered a stumble here, although nothing that derails it completely. In a breathless match that flurried from end to end, the home team were fortunate to draw level with two minutes remaining in normal time, courtesy of a penalty won by Ruben Loftus-Cheek who may have, in fact, been fouled just outside the margin of the penalty area. West Ham put on a fine away show, reminiscent of their early season form on the road, and will be hoping for a draw in tonight’s Manchester Derby.


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With Chelsea a little ponderous in defence, the front line of Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia pushed them back, wracking them with the fear of a streaking runner charging in behind. West Ham’s other attackers enjoyed, as a result, an indecent amount of freedom, dribbling and passing through the middle with unnatural ease at times. Slaven Bilic had set his team up to profit on the break, and Manuel Lanzini put them ahead after 17 minutes with a fine strike from distance. Fabregas equalised, slapping in a super free kick, hit flat and hard, just before half time. Chelsea enjoyed a nice majority of the possession, but West Ham defended tigrishly throughout, with tactical bookings a hallmark of their defensive plan.

Andy Carroll, scoring in a manner quite unlike him, regained the lead for his team in the second half, running onto a Payet through-ball and slotting past Courtois from a tight angle. But then, as the minutes fell away like the corners of a wet cake, Chelsea stole a point at the death, Fabregas converting a contentious penalty awarded in the 89th minute. Chelsea remain in tenth place, and West Ham in fifth.

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