West Ham United 0-0 Chelsea: 5 Hits and Flops, Premier League 2018-19

West Ham United v Chelsea FC - Premier League
Chelsea lost their 100% perfect start to the season

Chelsea's winning run came to an end on Sunday afternoon as the Blues were held to a goalless draw by West Ham United at the London Stadium.

Maurizio's Sarri side was far more dominant in possession but lacked creativity and were unable to break the deadlock. Both teams came close to scoring on either end in the second half but lacked end product and had to settle for a point each.

Chelsea dropped down to third place in the Premier League and will face Liverpool at home next weekend. Meanwhile, West Ham are two points clear off the drop zone and will look to continue their resurgence against an inconsistent Manchester United team next week.

On that note, here are the hits and flops from the game:


#5 Hit: Fabian Balbuena

Ipswich Town v West Ham United - Pre-Season Friendly
Balbuena has been a constant in the West Ham defence this season

West Ham's summer acquisition Fabian Balbuena seems to be finding his feet in English football. The Paraguayan has started all games in the league thus far and put in one of his best performances of the season on Sunday.

Balbuena looked immense on the day against the Blues and led from the front to help his club gain a draw. The outlandish defender possessed coordination and communication with his back four and didn't let any alarming moments affect his teammates for large portions of the game.

Balbuena led the charge with 11 clearances, three interceptions and at the same time did a great job in ruining Chelsea's momentum in attack. His presence of mind and discipline helped West Ham avert danger and in return, the opponents were forced to restart in the attack.

Similarly, the 27-year-old was very clean in his tackling, did not any commit any silly or mistimed fouls and made it hard for the Chelsea attackers to break through on goal.

#4 Flop: Michail Antonio

West Ham United v Chelsea FC - Premier League
West Ham United v Chelsea FC - Premier League

West Ham winger Michail Antonio was awarded his fourth start of the season by manager Manuel Pellegrini but once again turned out to be a disappointment. The 28-year-old had a couple of great opportunities to put the Hammers in front at halftime but his efforts went in vain.

Antonio's first attempt at goal was a slightly harder one but his second opportunity was the opposite.

Only a few yards away from goal, the Englishman failed to find the back of the net from point-blank range and instead shot it straight towards the hands of Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

In spite of his poor finishing, Antonio went missing at certain stages of the game as he managed to accumulate just 25 touches of the ball and was unable to provide any support during his stay on the pitch.

The former Sheffield Wednesday man completed just 12 passes and failed to deliver any successful crosses into the box before being substituted right after the one-hour mark.

#3 Hit: Jorginho

Chelsea FC v Cardiff City - Premier League
Jorginho set another new record in the Premier League

Ever since his arrival in England, one thing that Jorginho has been continually doing is breaking and setting new milestones.

The former Napoli playmaker had a stunning 191 touches of the ball and completed 90% of his passes.

Likewise, Jorginho also successfully completed eight long balls along with three key passes. His presence in the team has allowed N'Golo Kante freedom and at the same time, the Italian is slowly establishing one of the best partnerships in world football with his midfield partner.

But, unfortunately, all of Jorginho's hard work went in vain as none of the Chelsea frontmen could capitalize on his passes and despite a point, in the end, the feeling will be of empty-handedness from the London derby as the Blues did not get the result they wanted.

Similarly, Jorginho also fulfilled his role from a defensive point of view and chipped in with a couple of good challenges to recover the ball for his side.

There will be instances like these where Chelsea will struggle to score moving forward into the season but with the quality and service they own in their ranks, the attackers must ensure that they are clinical in front of goal if they are to convert draws into wins.

#2 Flop: Andriy Yarmolenko

West Ham United v Chelsea FC - Premier League
Yarmolenko had a golden opportunity to put the Hammers in the lead during the second half

West Ham United summer signing Andriy Yarmolenko had quite the identical game like his compatriot Michail Antonio against London rivals Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.

Yarmolenko had a golden opportunity to put the Hammers in the lead during the second half. The former Borussia Dortmund winger latched onto a lovely cross from Robert Snodgrass and escaped his marker before narrowly heading his shot wide off the goal.

After doing all the hard work, Yarmolenko missed a sitter from 10 yards out in the final quarter of the game while his error could go down as one of the worst misses in the Premier League this campaign.

Similarly, the 28-year-old wasted another goalscoring chance on the counter-attack earlier in the game when he got carried away and decided to shoot instead of playing it across the face of the goal.

#1 Hit: Lukasz Fabianski

Liverpool FC v West Ham United - Premier League
Fabianski kept his first clean sheet of the season

While Michail Antonio and Andriy Yarmolenko cost Manuel Pellegrini's side two points, goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski rescued two points for his team.

The Polish International made two remarkable saves that kept the West Ham alive in the game and saved them from the jaws of defeat. Firstly, Fabianski denied substitute Alvaro Morata, who nearly scored off his second touch after coming on the pitch.

The ball fell right to the Chelsea striker as a result of poor first touch from David Luiz off a set piece. However, Fabianski was brave enough and rushed off his line, took Morata's shot on the face and cleared the ball away from danger to keep the game scoreless.

The 33-year-old's second important save came during the final minutes of the game. Ross Barkley's effort on goal from distance saw the ball dip but Fabianski was ready and had no problem getting his hands around the ball and made a comfortable save to earn a well-deserved point for the Hammers.

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Edited by Alan John
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