ONE UNRELIABLE OWNER
Chelsea 1 West Ham 0
This is some of the jam In the sandwich that is the gap between Europa League fixtures. The first part tasted distinctly of relegation-threatened opposition, while this one is a feast on the ownerless cup dumped west Londoners who would probably rather be in a close season wilderness rather than face our limited aspirations in an aimless kick-about.
Truth is that West Ham could do with a sixth placed finish in the event of not going the whole way in the Europa League, so they are not without interest in the points at stake.
Victories at Stamford Bridge tend only to come when we are desperate for points and at the wrong end of the table. Not a bad thing of course. Di Canio’s benevolent brace back in 2002-03 applauded by Claudio Ranieri and then Aaron Cresswell’s decent winning finish with David Martin’s stirring goalkeeping debut in 2018-19 helping preserve the lead.
The game itself comes with an imaginary smell of carbolic, as there is very little to threaten either goal across the first half. It’s as if both sides are looking to the other to break the deadlock and entice them into action.
But neither does, and when Benrahma is brought on to inject a little adrenalin into affairs in the second half, it has the effect of prodding Chelsea out of their slumber.
Even so it is not until the final few minutes of the game that the deadlock is broken as Lukaku finds a loose yard in the area, pushing past Dawson before playing the felled tree card, dropping to the ground like a drunken Chelsea fan. The referee creatively awards a penalty and, to make matters worse, waves a straight red at Dawson.
More torture is to follow, despite Fabianski saving Jorginho’s tepid penalty, as Chelsea score in their last attack of the game. Pulisic steering Alonso’s hopeful cross into the bottom corner of the net. It’s not really clear whether a three goal victory might have been preferable. No team enjoys being beaten by the blue flaggers, but this kind of defeat has all the quality of a pre-meditated homicide. To see Thomas Tuchel dancing in his technical area like the freshly beheaded chicken he so often resembles is a sight no decent person should ever have to be subjected to.
Having fielded a strong side that have fallen to an incredibly late goal and who now face further European action next Thursday with tired defeated legs, West Ham and their fans might want to consider a late start on Monday. Oh and of course Chelsea and their fans are welcome to stick their blue flag unceremoniously up each of their respective arses.
1 Lucasz Fabianski, 31 Ben Johnson, 5 Vladimir Coufal, 24 Ryan Fredericks, 41 Declan Rice (c), 15 Craig Dawson, 28 Tomas Souček, 8 Pablo Fornals, 10 Manuel Lanzini, 9 Michail Antonio, 20 Jarrod Bowen
Substitutes: 22 Saïd Benrahma
