Those in any doubt as to how a big transfer fee guarantees you nothing only had to look here at the desolate figure of Chelsea’s Ukrainian substitute Mykhailo Mudryk. Signed for £88m last January, the winger has thus far made seven Premier League starts and scored no goals. On as a half-time substitute, he was wretched and, in some ways, the stumbling confused embodiment of Chelsea’s stumbling confused transfer policy.
Plenty more Chelsea money has been spent since that big transfer and in Mauricio Pochettino Mudryk is playing for his third manager in eight months.
And so to the latest shining Chelsea jewel, Moises Caicedo. Signed last week for £115m, the former Brighton midfielder was not introduced until the hour, by which time his new team-mates were behind for the second time. There was plenty of time for the 21-year-old to make his mark, especially when West Ham were reduced to ten men by the sending off of Nayef Aguerd.
But Caicedo in the middle looked almost as lost as Mudryk on the left and when West Ham pushed on in added time, the Ecuadorian about whom so much fuss has been made lunged in on home defender Emerson to concede a penalty from which Lucas Paqueta was able to seal the game.
Lucas Paqueta scored from the penalty spot in the second half stoppage time to seal a memorable 3-1 victory for West Ham
Nayef Aguerd gave West Ham the perfect start by rising above Conor Gallagher to head in James Ward-Prowse’s corner
Carney Chukwuemeka brought Chelsea level with the youngster curling an effort beyond the dive of Alphonse Areola
There had been plenty of chatter around Paqueta himself before this game after it emerged the Brazilian is being investigated by the FA for suspicious betting patterns.
But ultimately this was not Paqueta’s story and not even West Ham’s, which feels a little unfair on manager David Moyes. His pre-season hasn’t been easy. Having lost Declan Rice to Arsenal, his own big signing James Ward-Prowse was impressive in patches. Late on another new arrival, Edson Alvarez, also came on. It still feels as though there could be challenging times ahead for Moyes and his team but that only makes a day like this one to savour even more.
Certainly West Ham were gutsy and committed. They were also outplayed by Chelsea for long periods of the first hour, though, and when Pochettino and his players look in the mirror for reasons for this defeat it will be their own failings staring back.
Chelsea’s new manager will require time. The latest rebuilding job on the Fulham Road is starting from the ground up. Pochettino will probably not even be that disappointed by how his team has played against Liverpool and now West Ham. Nevertheless, his team only has a single point and it is this statistic that will follow them in to their next game. Whether the nature of the opposition – Luton Town – will prove to be a good thing or not will depend largely on the result.
Here they were behind to West Ham early only to equalise and then miss a penalty before half-time. The villain of that piece was Enzo Fernandes and he cost north of £100m last January. So on it goes.
To the start, though, and a West Ham goal. The home team’s first corner had been taken by their own new signing James Ward-Prowse in the fifth minute and almost led to a goal as Kurt Zouma headed down and Jarrod Bowen was denied by goalkeeper Robert Sanchez.
Chukwuemeka celebrated the first goal of his senior career as Chelsea’s pressure on the West Ham goal finally paid dividends
Enzo Fernandez saw his penalty saved by Alphonse Areola after Tomas Soucek fouled Raheem Sterling on the edge of the box
Michail Antonio put West Ham back ahead in the second half by drilling an effort into the bottom corner of the Chelsea net
Aguerd was shown a second yellow card after the West Ham defender fouled Nicolas Jackson with a reckless sliding tackle
West Ham were forced to survive the final 30 minutes of the match against Chelsea with 10-men following Aguerd’s dismissal
The next delivery two minutes later was similar, curled out from the right to the far post. This time, having pushed Conor Gallagher out of the way, West Ham defender Aguerd was free to head down and in. On replays, Aguerd’s shove on Gallagher looked illegal but the Chelsea player should also have been stronger. Aguerd’s physical approach to the game was to cost him later on.
Chelsea were sluggish at this stage but soon recovered. Raheem Sterling has been terrific this season and was a nuisance here. So was Fernandes with his passing and forward Nicolas Jackson with his running.
Jackson headed over in the 14th minute before a Gallagher shot was parried by Areola. Then, in the 29th minute, Chelsea equalised.
First Jackson caused West Ham a problem by making inroads on the left side and when the ball was only half cleared Chukwuemeka created an opportunity and as a result a goal for himself. His first touch to control a clearance was good and the trick he then pulled on Tomas Soucek to send him the wrong way was terrific. Having opened up space for himself the 19-year-old then whipped a right foot shot wide of Areola with pace in to the far corner.
Mauricio Pochettino brought on £115million record signing Moises Caicedo but the midfielder gave away a late penalty
Paqueta ended a difficult personal week by scoring from the spot to secure West Ham’s first three points of the season
David Moyes’s side impressed in front of their fans at the London Stadium with Ward-Prowse producing two assists on debut
Pochettino suffered his first defeat at Chelsea manager with the Blues picking up one point from their opening two matches
It was a lovely Chelsea goal and one that announced them, at that stage, as the dominant force. They may well have won had Fernandez converted the penalty awarded for Tomas Soucek’s trip on Sterling in the 41st minute. But Areola saved to his right and as West Ham emerged for the second half with greater energy they broke on their opponents to retake the lead.
Michail Antonio has his critics and can disappear in games. But he can also make big contributions. Here his finish, low across the goalkeeper from 20 yards, was struck true as he collected Bowen’s through pass down the right side. But the way he brushed off Levi Colwill to take possession will have infuriated Pochettino as indeed will the manner in which Axel Disasi lost the ball in the middle of the field in the first place.
Subsequently Aguerd’s dismissal for a second booking should have invited Chelsea back to the table. There were still 30 minutes left. But when Mudryk managed to volley a very good chance straight back across field to the team-mate who had provided it, the rather bemused Sterling, it was apparent that Chelsea’s race was run. By then, Sterling was standing offside.
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