By Warren Holmes
West Ham United completed an immense defensive performance to beat Chelsea 1-0 at London Stadium, after Marko Arnautovic grabbed his first goal for the Hammers after six minutes in the city rivalry.
The Hammers defence managed to withstand a late Chelsea onslaught, with Winston Reid blocking, clearing and intercepting any ball played his way to claim a vital three points in the Premier League.
After much speculation during the week, England’s No.1, Joe Hart, was left out of the starting line-up with Adrian keeping his place after a fine display against Manchester City last week.
There were three other changes to the Hammers’ line-up, Cheikhou Kouyate was ruled out due to a hamstring injury, Declan Rice and Edimilson Fernandes dropped to the bench, with Winston Reid, Mark Noble and Marko Arnautovic back in the starting XI.Â
Antonio Conte made three changes to the Blues side that beat Newcastle 3-1 last week, Gary Cahill, Davide Zappacosta and Tiemoue Bakayoko returned to the XI, as Antonio Rudiger, Victor Moses and Danny Drinkwater missed out.Â
Michail Antonio started upfront with Arnautovic playing just behind him, the Hammers looked the most threatening in the opening exchanges, but neither side created any real chances.Â
The Hammers were rewarded on six minutes, as Arnautovic combined with Manuel Lanzini before placing the ball beyond Thibaut Courtois to give West Ham a deserved lead andLondon Stadium erupted in celebration to create an electric atmosphere.
Conte’s Blues failed to test Adrian’s goal in the opening minutes of the first-half, however, he was called into action later in the half as a curled Kanté effort was tipped around the post for a corner.Â
The visitors started the second-half with the majority of the ball with Bakayoko being replaced by Pedro, however, Antonio looked to counter with Arnautovic to his right, but he held onto the ball for too long with Austrian through one-on-one with the goalkeeper.Â
Shortly after it was summer signing Arnautovic in the midst of the action again as he tried to take the ball around Andreas Christensen. The ball looked to have hit the defenders hand but referee Anthony Taylor waved away appeals from the fans and players alike.Â
After looking Moyes’ biggest attacking threat, Arnautovic was substituted on 69 minutes for Diafro Sakho to a rousing standing ovation by the Hammers fans, Sakho was then replaced just eight minutes later by Andre Ayew.Â
Chelsea looked to have grabbed the equaliser when the ball bounced through to Alvaro Morata but his volley whistled past the post. West Ham then deservedly took all three points, holding on for their first victory since beating Swansea at London Stadium.
The Hammers face another tough clash at London Stadium on Wednesday against Arsenal but they will be full of renewed confidence after their performance today.
