EPL: West Ham United 1-0 Chelsea
Marko Arnautovic scored the winning goal
David Moyes secured his first win as West Ham manager following a surprise 1-0 victory over London rivals Chelsea on Saturday.
The Hammers got off to a flying start at the London Stadium when, after just six minutes, Marko Arnautovic swivelled in the penalty area before curling a left-footed shot beyond the despairing dive of Thibaut Courtois to move the home side into the lead.
Chelsea’s attempts to respond during the rest of the first half were tepid at best and when they did manage to find a route to goal, they were denied by Hammers stopper Adrian who had maintained his starting berth despite the return to availability of Joe Hart.
First, Adrian saved N’Golo Kante’s curling effort before he also reacted sharply to block Davide Zappacosta’s goal-bound strike from the edge of the area.
At half-time Chelsea boss Antonio Conte made an attacking substitution as he brought on Pedro Rodriguez for Tiemoue Bakayoko, but it was the Hammers who looked more threatening in the opening minutes of the half, and they could have had a penalty when the ball struck the hand of Blues defender Andreas Christensen in the penalty area although it would have been a soft decision.
Chelsea continued to struggle for attacking quality as the game wore on and they were limited to long-range strikes, with Zappacosta coming close with one particular effort.
With 10 minutes to go, Chelsea finally got in behind the West Ham defence but Alvaro Morata spurned the chance when he should have at least hit the target.
Eden Hazard was the next to be wasteful as he fired over from the edge of the area and that was as good as it got for Chelsea as West Ham held on for a crucial victory.
Chelsea’s attempts to respond during the rest of the first half were tepid at best and when they did manage to find a route to goal, they were denied by Hammers stopper Adrian who had maintained his starting berth despite the return to availability of Joe Hart.
First, Adrian saved N’Golo Kante’s curling effort before he also reacted sharply to block Davide Zappacosta’s goal-bound strike from the edge of the area.
At half-time Chelsea boss Antonio Conte made an attacking substitution as he brought on Pedro Rodriguez for Tiemoue Bakayoko, but it was the Hammers who looked more threatening in the opening minutes of the half, and they could have had a penalty when the ball struck the hand of Blues defender Andreas Christensen in the penalty area although it would have been a soft decision.
Chelsea continued to struggle for attacking quality as the game wore on and they were limited to long-range strikes, with Zappacosta coming close with one particular effort.
With 10 minutes to go, Chelsea finally got in behind the West Ham defence but Alvaro Morata spurned the chance when he should have at least hit the target.
Eden Hazard was the next to be wasteful as he fired over from the edge of the area and that was as good as it got for Chelsea as West Ham held on for a crucial victory.