West Ham and Chelsea were involved in an energetic, if troubled, game on Wednesday night as the two London sides met in the 4th round of the EFL Cup and it was the Hammers who came away with an impressive victory.
It was West Ham who began on the front foot as Kouyate turned in a Mark Noble cross in the 11th minute. The Hammers doubled their lead in the 48th minute courtesy of a Fernandes goal and looked set for resounding victory over the cross-town rivals.
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However, Chelsea threatened time and again and finally found their reward when Gary Cahill found the back of the net in the 4th minute of stoppage a time – a goal that came too little too late, as they crashed out of the tournament.
Here are the five major talking points from the game
#1 West Ham’s season is picking up pace
West Ham lit up the last season of the Premier League with their energetic displays and were touted by many to challenge for a European spot this season. To the great disappointment of its fan base, that has not been the case as the side started the season rather slow and the players have looked like a shadow of themselves during early stages of the season.
The Hammers’ tough start to the season means they currently sit in the 15th spot, just 3 points shy of the relegation zone. However, it finally looks like West Ham’s season might be finally picking up pace after they have managed to eke out positive results in the month of October.
Consecutive wins over Crystal Palace, Sunderland and now Chelsea have rejuvenated them and the London club will be hoping to carry forward the momentum in its next outings to ensure that they can replicate their performances of the last season.
#2 Chelsea need Eden Hazard and Diego Costa
While they were not entirely outplayed, the game provided enough evidence that for Chelsea to truly contend for any silverware, they needed Eden Hazard and Diego Costa – arguably their best players on the pitch so far this season.
The introduction of the duo in the second half galvanized the Chelsea side and they could be termed unlucky at not finding an equaliser, having come agonisingly close on numerous occasions during the night.
While the likes of Michy Batshuayi possess the ability to turn the game on its head, it must be noted that they are still adapting to life in a new league and it might take some time before they truly impact the game consistently.
With no European commitments and now with only FA Cup to play for apart from the Premier League, Antonio Conte’s job could have gotten easier as he does not have to cherry pick which games the duo should start and which they shouldn’t.
#3 Chelsea’s defensive troubles continue
It has been termed rather scandalous that Chelsea have managed to already concede a bagful of goals under the aegis of Antonio Conte. The side has consistently been broken down by the opposition and has often been termed out of sync by many pundits and it presents Conte with a headache he would like to resolve at the earliest.
In fairness to West Ham, they could have gotten at least a couple of more goals, if not for the heroics of Asmir Begovic and some last ditch tackles by Chelsea defenders – a proposition that will annoy Conte – a manager who prides himself on his defensive stability.
The side lined up with 3 centre-backs in a bid to contain the West Ham side but, the Hammers found space over and over again in the attacking third and it remains to be seen how Conte will strengthen his back-line in the games to come.
#4 Mark Noble deserves an England call-up
The West Ham captain has been knocking at the doors of the England national team for some time now, albeit without any positive results. A hard-tackling midfielder who has a great understanding of the game and is not afraid to launch into tackles and put his body on the line, Noble is the kind of player England have lacked in major tournaments.
The Englishman put up another good performance in the middle of the park for the Hammers, denying the Chelsea men space and time on the ball and mopping up behind his attacking teammates when threatened by the Blues.
His distribution as always was good and he also played a key role in his side’s opening goal, putting in a low cross toward Kouyate to head home from a fair distance.
While N’golo Kante might be grabbing the limelight with his energetic displays, Noble has done enough to already deserve a mention amongst the best central midfielders in the country at the moment and the game against the Blues served us a reminder of how devastating he can be on the pitch, in attack as well as defence.
#5 Hooliganism raises its head again
The game was marred by Hooliganism towards the end, with both sets of fans, breaking chairs and throwing coins at each other. Harrowed by the events unfolding in the stadium, the authorities at the club were quick to react, requesting riot police be deployed in and around the stadium.
However, their efforts did not yield positive results as the fans were at each others’ throats and we have subsequently seen at least 7 fans arrested on account of the violence after the game.
The beautiful game has had its fair share of problems with hooliganism in the past with a number of events well documented. While England might not be as troubled as other European nations, the FA must act tough to ensure that such events do not repeat themselves as it puts the reputation of the game and the league on the sword.
It remains to be seen how the footballing authorities deal with the clubs involved in the trouble.
