10 Man Chelsea FC Lose 2-1 to West Ham
Chelsea FC would continue their troubling form with a loss at West Ham. Nemanja Matic was sent off in the 44th minute, after Chelsea were already a goal down. The Blues fought back valiantly, scoring an equalizer, and holding strong for the majority of the game. But eventually the Hammers proved too much to handle, and took all three points in this derby.
The home side looked lively to begin, and put Chelsea under all too familiar early pressure. Asmir Begovic was forced into early action from Dimitri Payet, but was up to the task.
West Ham would grab the lead in the 18th minute through Mauro Zarate. A corner kick slipped past everyone in the box and the forward caught it sweetly off the half volley to beat Begovic at the far post.
The Blues thought they had pulled one back, but Kurt Zouma’s header was deemed not to have crossed the goal line. Replays showed that the entire ball in fact didn’t break the plane.
The visitors luck went from bad to worse just before halftime, when Matic was sent off after receiving his second yellow card. Already a goal down, Chelsea would now be without arguably their best holding midfielder for the entire second half.
Chelsea would show some fight in the second half. Gary Cahill netted the equalizer for the Blues in the 56th minute, capitalizing on poor goalkeeping from Adrian to give hope to the away fans.
Jose Mourinho’s men had played well for the rest of the second half, keeping things tight at the back, while also showing glimpses of being able to nick a goal.
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Cesc Fabregas was denied such an event after Chelsea broke on a counter following a West Ham free kick. Replays indicated that the Spaniard may indeed have been onside, but the linesman judged him to have been slightly ahead of the defensive line. It was the sort of call that could have gone either way and justifiably so.
The call would ultimately come back to sting Chelsea, as substitute Andy Carroll rose well to head home the winning goal in the 79th minute. Cesar Azpilicueta was isolated and simply had no chance of throwing off the towering Carroll.
Another disappointing defeat for the Blues, even more painful coming at the hands of a London rivals. They’ll look to turn their fortunes around this Tuesday at Stoke City in the Capital One Cup. In the meantime, let the chaos resume.
Next: Didier Drogba’s Top 10 Chelsea FC Goals