Chelsea 1-1 West Ham: 5 talking points

Chelsea suffered yet another blow in their domestic campaign this season after Antonio Conte's men were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham United at Stamford Bridge in an exciting derby game, fiercely contested by both teams right from the start of the referee's whistle.

The Blues paid homage to former captain and assistant coach Ray Wilkins, who tragically passed away on Thursday.

Chelsea started the game on the front foot and were wasteful at a number of instances before Cesar Azpilicueta put them ahead in the 36th minute. Azpilicueta nudged the ball into the far side of the net after Morata flicked it on from a corner.

The second half stretched the game even better as both teams continued to outshine each other on numerous occasions. Javier Hernandez came off the bench to score the equalizer for the Hammers to cap off a memorable night for the visitors.

The result helped West Ham create some breathing space in their quest for survival while Chelsea stuttered yet again and just three points separate them and Arsenal in sixth. Without further delay, let's take a closer look at the major talking points from the game:

#1 Chelsea pay fitting tribute to Ray Wilkins

Chelsea football club paid the perfect tribute to former player and assistant coach; Ray Wilkins, who passed away due to a cardiac arrest last Thursday.

The Shed End welcomed the players with banners and a minute's applause was observed during the 8th minute, which signified his kit number from his time at the club.

The Chelsea players wore black #8 shirts during warm-up out of respect to the England legend, who enjoyed spells with the club as a player and coach.

Azpilicueta also stood out with his gesture when he looked up to the skies to pay homage to Wilkins after scoring the opening goal.

#2 Javier Hernandez returns to haunt Chelsea

Javier Hernandez came off the bench to register his sixth goal in seven games as a substitute against Chelsea in the Premier League, who are also his favourite opposition in terms of scoring, having scored against the Blues on numerous occasions during his spell with Manchester United.

Hernandez replaced Edimilson Fernandes in the 70th minute and scored shortly thereafter in West Ham's first real chance of the half as he got on the end of a perfect cutback from Marko Arnautovic, who was on a league of his own at times.

Chicharito's lack of involvement with West Ham is quite baffling considering the fact that most managers in the league would relish the chance of having him spear-head their attack regularly.

#3 Chelsea are losing ground on rivals

Chelsea are now 10 points away from a top four finish with six games to go

Chelsea's title defence has gone horribly wrong yet again and their latest setback at home to West Ham now means that Antonio Conte's men are 10 points away from rivals Tottenham Hotspur who are in fourth place.

A top four finish seems highly unlikely now and it is certain that there will be a lot of change in terms of personnel at the club over the summer.

If Chelsea continue to struggle and fail to qualify for the Champions League next season, which looks almost certain now, then they will face a lot of competition from clubs trying to lure their stars away from Stamford Bridge.

Furthermore, Arsenal's 3-2 win over Southampton means that the Gunners have now bridged the gap between them and Chelsea to just 3 points.

#4 Joe Hart's World Cup dream might still be on

Hart made a number of crucial saves for the visitors

Joe Hart's career had hit a new low when he was deemed surplus to requirements at Manchester City by Pep Guardiola.

In order to get enough playing time to keep his place as the England #1, he was forced to go out on loan and after a spell abroad in Italy, his more recent adventures have taken him to East London.

Hart made a number of crucial saves during the game and the first instance came when he was called into action to deny Willian's low shot with an outstretched boot that took it over the cross-bar.

That was not the end of it and in the second half he denied Alonso who turned sharply and had a go at goal from the edge of the area by superbly flicking his shot over the bar and later he dived to his left to push a header from substitute Olivier Giroud onto the post to ensure that the visitors remained unbeaten against their rivals in the league this season.

The race to become England's custodian at the World Cup might still be between Jordan Pickford and Jack Butland but Hart will surely be in contention aswell.

#5 West Ham have breathing space at the bottom

West Ham are looking likely to avoid the drop

West Ham's crucial point away to Chelsea helped them create some sort of breathing space between the Hammers and the teams in the battle to avoid relegation at the end of the season.

David Moyes' men are now 6 points away from the relegation zone and will face struggling Stoke City at home in their next league game.

On current form, they are expected to shrug off Stoke City after beating Southampton last week and getting an invaluable point against Chelsea on the night.

West Ham will also be heading into the game in better shape after Stoke lost to Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.

However, Moyes will know that the job is far from done with the Hammers set to face Arsenal and the Manchester clubs in their remaining six games.