Irons 1 Chelsea 1
By Hughie Southon
Tomas Soucek ensured the Hammers grabbed a precious point with a one handed 89th minute save from a Conor Gallagher’s shot inside his own box and a clear penalty was denied by the referee.
It seemed a perfectly justified conclusion to a game after the Hammers had been denied a draw at Stamford Bridge for an appalling VAR decision which ruled out a Maxwel Cornet equaliser.
Soucek
The Hammers were particularly strong in the second half of today’s game when Chelsea’s £200 million forward line could find no way through a well organised defence.
The first half had seen the visitors go ahead when Joao Felix fired visitors Chelsea ahead with a volleyed finish following a delicious assist by Enzo Fernandez, the £107m British transfer-record signing from Benfica.
Chelsea dominated the early stages of the game but a brilliant move from the Irons saw Coufal’s cross flicked onto Emerson in the 28th minute for an equaliser from the former Chelsea man.
Chelsea’s Noni Madueke forced a fine save from Lukasz Fabianski before the West Ham keeper kept out a free-kick by Felix.
In a dramatic finish, West Ham thought they had won it in the closing stages when substitute Tomas Soucek scored from close range but it was ruled out for offside – the third disallowed goal of the match.
The Hammers can be proud of their performance against a team assembled for around £500 million who whilst causing problems throughout could never made their efforts count thanks to some fine defencing and three or four fine saves from Fabianski.
The Penalty/non-penalty makes up for the last Chelsea game, when West Ham were robbed.