Full Time: West Ham United 1-0 Chelsea
West Ham won for the first time under David Moyes as Marko Arnautovic’s first goal for the club proved enough for the Hammers to beat a disjointed Chelsea at London Stadium.
It came as a bolt from the Blue for the Blues as the Hammers scored the only goal after just six minutes when Arnautovic curled a deft strike into the bottom corner after exchanging passes with Manuel Lanzini on the edge of the area.
Chelsea responded well before the break but were kept out by goalkeeper Adrian, who started the second game in a row for West Ham.
The visitors came close a number of times to equalise in the second half but West Ham desperately held on, with Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard fluffing their chances late on.
Here’s how our stars fared on the day.
Chelsea Player Ratings
Thibaut Courtois – 5/10
Really had nothing to do except stand and watch the entire game after conceding the goal.
Davide Zappacosta – 2/10
Arthur Masuaku gave him a hard time and the Italian didn’t do anything offensively. Was poor defensively as well.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 4/10
He was solid defensively but couldn’t contribute anything to the attack.
Andreas Christensen – 5/10
He was decent. Probably endured the toughest afternoon as a starter.
Gary Cahill – 5/10
The skipper did well to stop the rare West Ham attacks in the second-half.
Marcos Alonso – 4/10
He provided very little to the game from the left flank and was rightfully substituted. Seems fatigued.
Tiemoue Bakayoko – 3/10
Another poor outing for the bulky Frenchman. Bakayoko failed to offer anything offensively as well as defensively and was substituted at half-time for Pedro.
N’Golo Kante – 5/10
Kante was industrious, ran the entire 90 minutes in order to make an impact. Sadly, he failed.
Cesc Fabregas – 4/10
A rare off-day for the Spaniard as nothing worked for him.
Eden Hazard – 5/10
He was the best player in an otherwise mediocre show. Hazard tried his best to open up spaces with his invention and guile. Overran with the ball but that’s how he plays.
He kept on trying to influencing the game and his partnership with Morata never seemed to click. Fluffed a chance late on to level the scores. A relatively quiet afternoon for the Belgian.
Alvaro Morata – 4/10
He was ill and it showed on the field. He looked off the pace. His link-up play with Hazard never worked and was often kept isolated by the West Ham defence. A poor performance for his standards.
Pedro – 5/10
Came on at half-time and added a bit of thrust into Chelsea’s attack. As the game went on, he faded.
Victor Moses – 4/10
He was brought on to create some width which Zappacosta couldn’t. Moses, however, disappointed.
Willian – 3/10
I had high expectations when he entered the pitch but he didn’t do much.