West Ham humbles Chelsea at the London Stadium

Chelsea's struggles continue against West Ham: costly errors, missed chances, defensive lapses. Analysis of 3-1 defeat at London Stadium.

Lucas Paqueta fires home the third of three goals against Chelsea at the London Stadium on Sunday. West Ham won 3-1. (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

Chelsea may have neared a staggering €1bn in transfers over the last three windows, but the football on display still leaves a lot to be desired.

The Blues visited their neighbor West Ham on Sunday off the back of a 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool, while it was also an identical result for West Ham on their trip to Bournemouth last weekend; both sides were seeking their first maximum points, and one would have thought Chelsea were favorites.

The Hammers handed a debut to James Ward Prowse, who joined from Southampton a few days ago. Chelsea had their mega-money signing Moises Caicedo on the bench, but Romeo Lavia wasn’t in the squad as he fought for match fitness.

Chelsea started on the back foot, and West Ham didn’t forgive them. Robert Sanches saved from Antonio early in the game, but he couldn’t do anything about Nayef Aguerd’s header just seven minutes into the game. The Moroccan soon entered the referee’s book for hacking down Raheem Sterling.

Chelsea levelled through Carney Chukwuemeka just before the hour mark for what was his first goal for Chelsea. The Blues had a chance to take the lead in the closing stages of the first half when Sterling was brought down in the area, but Enzo Fernandes saw his effort saved by Alphonso Areola.

West Ham scored again as early as the start of the second half through a brilliant Michail Antonio strike. Chelsea introduced their big-money signing in place of Ben Chilwell on the hour mark, and Aguerd saw red shortly after that for an indiscretion in the West Ham area.

Chelsea threw everything forward but couldn’t break down West Ham’s low block. Noni Madueke and Mason Burstow came on, but the Hammers stood resolute and completely against the run of play. West Ham scored again.

The Hammers raced down on a counter-attack, and Caicedo brought down Lucas Paqueta in the box, and the referee pointed to the spot for the second time in the game. Paqueta stepped up and fired home the third, which ultimately broke Chelsea’s resolve.

The result moved West Ham up to 6^th on the log with four points, while Chelsea slipped to 15^th. Up next for the Blues is the visit of Luton Town to Stamford Bridge, and West Ham will travel to high-flying Brighton on Saturday.