The last time these two sides met, the match was marred in controversy - and it had nothing to do with what happened on the pitch. Fan violence overshadowed a good performance from a West Ham side who’d been struggling for results at the time. Poor planning by stadium officials had fans separated by a few empty seats and stewards who weren’t interested.
Chelsea remained unchanged from their 3-1 win at home over Swansea last week, which meant that Cesc Fàbregas was handed his third consecutive start. West Ham, meanwhile, made two changes to the side that drew at Watford, with Winston Reid and a reasonably fit Andy Carroll reinstated.
There’s been very few games this season that Chelsea’s defence looked vulnerable, but Andy Carroll’s presence in their box seemed to wreak all sorts of chaos that they were not accustomed to. Despite the fact the Englishman found his nose on the end of a losing battle with Victor Moses, it didn’t deter West Ham’s endeavour. And for the opening 25 minutes they were arguably the better side.
Just as West Ham looked to have a grip on the game, they made the costly mistake of affording Eden Hazard far too much space. The Belgian was able to make one of his trademark mazy runs into the box before slotting home Chelsea’s opening goal with their very first shot of the match. Hazard has now scored 4 Premier League goals against West Ham - and picked up 3 assists - he has not scored more against any other opponent.
Hazard’s goal appeared to kick Chelsea in to life as they attacked with a lot more purpose in the later stages of the first half. Antonio Conte's side would have been further ahead at the interval had it not been for a couple of outstanding saves from Darren Randolph in the West Ham goal
Between the momentum of the match and Conte’s half-time talk, Chelsea began the second half as the ended the first. Within 5 minutes, Diego Costa punished a defensive mistake and Chelsea found themselves 2-0 up and in full control of this derby. The goal was labled as “cheap” by Slaven Bilic. He went on to say that “to beat [Chelsea], you need them to make mistakes, not the other way around.”
Diego Costa: Has now scored in 16 Premier League matches this season, at least 4 more than any other player #WHUCHE
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) March 6, 2017
Ultimately, that goal was the difference between the two sides. Manuel Lanzini scored a consolation goal deep into injury time. While it made no difference in terms of the result - Thibaut Courtois reacted furiously at losing what would have been his 14th clean sheet of the season. An uncharacteristic display of emotion, that no doubt would have pleased his manager.
While Hazard was once again named man of the match, it was Kante who deservedly drew plaudits from his teammates and manager alike. In his post-match press conference Conte joked that he would have to “find one situation to tell him to improve”.
Late in the first half, Kanté avoided a misplaced pass from a heavy touch into essentially a pass to himself. It was another incredible tireless display from the Frenchman. Hazard summed up Kanté’s performances this season for ChelseaTV. “I don’t need to speak about N’Golo, everyone knows about him. He’s everywhere. I think sometimes when I’m on the pitch I see him twice. One on the left, one on the right. I think I’m playing with twins!”
Chelsea remain 10 points clear of Tottenham. A lead which could be reduced to 8 should Manchester City beat Stoke on Wednesday night. While Conte played down their lead at the top of the league, Bilic is confident that Chelsea will go on and win the title this season. When asked about their chances he said: “They aren’t going to lose. They aren’t going to become casual. They’re going to stay on top with how solid they are, how concentrated they are and most of all how in good physical shape they are.”
