Arthur Masuaku's freakish late goal completes West Ham comeback to stun Chelsea

• West Ham fight back from 1-0 and 2-1 down to win

• Bowen and Masuaku capitalise on Mendy errors

• Mount scores with a stunning volley

• Hammers move to six points behind leaders

For only the third time in 53 games since Thomas Tuchel took charge as head coach, Chelsea conceded more than one goal - the common denominator is that N’Golo Kante was missing on each occasion.

West Ham United took full advantage of Kante’s absence, even if substitute Arthur Masuaku’s late winner owed to more than a touch of good fortune, and Chelsea have now dropped seven points in their last five Premier League games to dent their title bid.

Kante’s absence with a knee injury was not the only reason Chelsea lost for only the second time in the league this season, but, without him, they are not the same team, as they found against West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa last term.

Asked if he knows when Kante will return, Tuchel said: “No, I have no idea when he will be back. We’re also missing Mateo Kovacic since four or five, six weeks. And Jorginho is playing with hip pain for many days, many match days. You can see it. That’s the situation.”

As Tuchel put it himself, this is a bump in the road for the Blues and they need to get over it quickly given how little margin for error there is likely to be in this season’s title race with Manchester City and Liverpool.

Chelsea led twice at the London Stadium with goals from Thiago Silva and Mason Mount, but they let the hosts back in and did not create anything for Romelu Lukaku, who replaced the injured Kai Havertz at half-time.

This was also a rare occasion when Edouard Mendy had to accept a share of the blame for Chelsea’s slip-up. The goalkeeper, who was almost punished for an error against Watford, was at fault for the penalty from which West Ham first equalised and was caught out for Masuaku’s winner.

“Edu is going through a rough period,” said Tuchel. “I don’t know why exactly. It seems he has lost a bit of confidence. Okay, decision making was not at the highest level today at the first goal, but we also put him into an awkward situation. He could have saved the situation. He did not. We are far, far away from blaming anybody, but we need to admit we are making too many crucial mistakes at the moment which cost us against Manchester United and today.

“Every loss is a bump in the road, that will not hold us back from what we demand from us. But we need to play more accurately, be more stable and reduce big mistakes. We made too many mistakes. It’s impossible to make this many mistakes and get the result.”

This was the second time West Ham have bloodied the nose of one of the title chasers, having also beaten Liverpool 3-2, to boost their hopes of hanging on to a top-four place and qualifying for the Champions League.

“We played better against Liverpool than we did today,” said West Ham manager David Moyes. “I want to compete with those who are in the top four. We are giving them a game.”

There was evidence as early as the 23rd minute that Chelsea would miss Kante at West Ham, when Jorginho, who gifted United their goal last weekend, was booked for going down and holding on to the ball after being bullied by Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek.

But six minutes later, the visitors went ahead through Silva when the defender out-jumped Michail Antonio to head a Mount corner past Lukasz Fabianski.

Silva was then on hand to produce a brilliant goal-line clearance to stop a Vladimir Coufal shot that had beaten Mendy.

West Ham were far more passive than Moyes wanted for much of the first half and yet they were allowed back into the game via a penalty that was all of Chelsea’s making.

Jorginho put Mendy under pressure with a poor back pass and, rather than clearing the ball, the Senegal international attempted to dribble his way around Jarrod Bowen but ended up bringing the busy West Ham forward down. Manuel Lanzini made no mistake from the spot.

Having assisted for Chelsea’s first goal, Mount restored the visitors’ lead with a brilliant goal on the stroke of half-time as he passed a volley into the net from Hakim Ziyech’s cross to the back post.

Havertz had to be helped off the pitch at half-time after suffering an injury under a challenge from former Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma and Lukaku was introduced in place of the German for the second half.

Lukaku did not get a sight of goal in his 45 minutes on the pitch and it was Bowen who levelled the game 11 minutes after the restart with a smart finish past Mendy after Coufal had got a crucial toe to the ball.

The game looked to be swinging in favour of Chelsea, when Zouma was forced off with a hamstring injury with over 20 minutes remaining. But Moyes made two bold changes, first sending on Pablo Fornals and later replacing Lanzini with Said Benrahama.

It was very much a case of fortune then favouring the brave, as Masuaku, a first-half substitute in place of the injured Ben Johnson, netted a surprise 87th-minute winner. The full-back took a quick throw-in to Antonio, who played the ball back to him and then Masuaku mishit a cross that caught Mendy out at his near post.

Moyes said: “I just said to him (Masuaku), I thought it was a great cross! It was a very fortunate goal, so let's not kid ourselves on, but in football you need fortune.”

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As it happened by Rob Bagchi

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02:51 PM

Thomas Tuchel speaks

I don’t think we [played] a bad match. An OK match. But it’s tough to play here, and we did too many individual mistakes, and we got punished for it. We talked about it before, but it obviously did not help.

[With the penalty Jorginho's] is not the best decision to pass the ball back, the decision making from Edouard is not the best in that moment. We had a lot of touches in the box but sometimes you need a bit of luck, and this we did not have. The third goal is a strange one. We could not finish with clear chances and struggled to be ruthless.

We made way too many mistakes, you cannot do it at this level. We need to play more accurately, more stable, and reduce big mistakes.

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02:49 PM

David Moyes speaks

Truthfully I don't think we played that well but we got the goals. We were too passive and submissive in the first half, they have quality but we were much better. I just said to Arthur, 'it was a great cross'. It was very fortunate, let's not kid ourselves on. The good thing is we can beat Chelsea when we were not at our best. Second-half Jarrod came into himself, scored a great goal, should have scored another, that's the level [he has to consistently reach].

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02:33 PM

Jarrod Bowen speaks

It's what we're about as a team. We never know we're beaten. We're big on putting balls in the box and sometimes you get a bit of luck. Arthur will probably tell you it was a shot!

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02:29 PM

Here's the winning goal

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02:25 PM

Full time

A fantastic victory for West Ham with a freakish goal, Masuaku's first in the Premier League, exploiting two Mendy mistakes to beat the league leaders from 1-0 and 2-1 down.

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02:24 PM

90+3 min West Ham 3 Chelsea 2

Rice ushers Pulisic out of the box with pristine control, refusing to give him a hurdle to fall over. He wins the ball back then West Ham send a long ball for Antonio to chase and Christensen flattens him. Yellow card.

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02:22 PM

90+2 min West Ham 3 Chelsea 2

Soucek stops James' burst down the right and stays down when the ball trickles out for a goalkick.

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02:21 PM

90 min West Ham 3 Chelsea 2

Four minutes of injury time have been put on the board.

Chelsea's substitutions haven't worked ... yet.

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02:20 PM

89 min West Ham 3 Chelsea 2

Bowen, named man of the match, should have made it four as he exploits Chelsea pouring numbers forward to cut in off the right to bend a left-foot shot over the bar.

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02:19 PM

88 min West Ham 3 Chelsea 2

Extraordinary goal - Masuaku takes a throw-in that Antonio heads back to him on the left touchline. He holds the ball up as Antonio takes a defender away then arcs a cross past Loftus-Cheek that wobbles, dips and beats Mendy at his near post.

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02:17 PM

GOOOAL!

West Ham 3 Chelsea 2 (Masuaku) Unbelievable.

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02:16 PM

85 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Benrahma delivers a note to Rice who reads it and, disappointingly, doesn't eat it but sticks it in his slips.

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02:15 PM

84 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Coufal beats Hudson-Odoi down the right with a powerful run but his cross is blocked by the Chelsea wide man who had stuck to his task.

West Ham make their final substitution: Benrahma for Lanzini.

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02:12 PM

81 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Rudiger jumps in two-footed to win the ball as Bowen tried to dribble down the left. Very risky but well-executed eventually.

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02:11 PM

79 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Dainty Chelsea move from the left, balls to feet and good movement, Loftus-Cheek trying to play in Mount when the cross comes in, knocking the ball down, just ahead of his team-mate who manages to retain possession until West Ham finally snuff out the attack.

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02:09 PM

77 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Hudson-Odoi gambols down the left into the box and pulls back a pass to Jorginho who is calling for it on the 18-yard line. He is quickly closed down so opts for a cute side-foot shot that hits Diop and flashes round the post out for a corner.

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02:06 PM

75 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Bowen slides in at the far post but can't get there quick enough to meet Antonio's excellent cross and hence knocks it wide at full strength. It was the result of a good move, begun by Fornals' fine threaded pass and Antonio's control and strength to hold off his marker.

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02:03 PM

73 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Chelsea make their third substitution: Marcos Alonso exits for Pulisic.

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02:02 PM

72 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

The corner is rubbish, a huge outswinger that Bowen mops up but then fouls Hudson-Odoi as the Chelsea winger was on him like the proverbial rash.

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02:01 PM

71 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

West Ham are down to 10 while Zouma tries to run it off up the touchline. But he can't. West Ham send on Fornals for him eventually as Chelsea prepare to take a right-wing corner.

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01:58 PM

69 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Zouma has twanged his left calf or hamstring.

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01:56 PM

67 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Hudson-Odoi skitters down the left, beating Coufal before laying it off to Mount in the box who scuffs his shot straight at Fabianski's feet.

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01:55 PM

65 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Nothing much of note from Lukaku so far. He is playing right up against Zouma.

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01:54 PM

63 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Jarrod Bowen has been outstanding today, earning the penalty and scoring the second equaliser

Chelsea replace Ziyech with Hudson-Odoi.

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01:52 PM

62 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Mendy is uncharacteristically uncertain today and males a mess of a cross, allowing it to bounce rather than battling Antonio for it.

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01:51 PM

60 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Chelsea attack with gusto from the kick-off and Mount scuds a daisy-cutter cross through the six-yard box that Coufal prods away from Ziyech who was closing in to try to finish.

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01:48 PM

58 min West Ham 2 Chelsea 2

Chelsea concede two goals in the Premier League for the first time this season. Antonio wins a header on halfway, Coufal takes it down the right, plays it to Antonio who had raced forward to take and lay it off to Coufal who prods it on to Bowen on the right. The forward cuts infield to the edge of the area and lines up Christensen before arrowing a left-foot shot through his legs and into the bottom right corner.

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01:46 PM

GOAL!!

West Ham 2 Chelsea 2 (Bowen)

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01:46 PM

54 min West Ham 1 Chelsea 2

Slick West Ham move ends abruptly when Rudiger intercepts Bowen's pass intended for Masuaku and haring off upfield, carrying in 50 yards to the edge of the box before slipping it too far in front of Ziyech which forces his shot into the side-netting. Mount was unmarked to Rudiger's right.

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01:44 PM

52 min West Ham 1 Chelsea 2

Rice cuts out Loftus-Cheeks' square pass and hurtles up the left, pursued and ultimately tackled by James.

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01:42 PM

49 min West Ham 1 Chelsea 2

Chelsea corner from the left bundled behind by Diop with a final touch from Jorginho the referee didn't spot, They have another go and West Ham defend that one and push out with Antonio sprinting down the inside-right and too late triggering a pass to Bowen which catches him offside. Good covering work by Loftus-Cheek to cover and tackle Bowen nonetheless.

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01:38 PM

47 min West Ham 1 Chelsea 2

A good set of head tennis down the Chelsea left ends when they switch play over to the right and then knock it out for a West Ham throw from which Loftus-Cheek fells Lanzini. Free-kick.

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01:36 PM

46 min West Ham 1 Chelsea 2

Romelu Lukaku replaces the injured Havertz.

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01:25 PM

Momentum changers

For the first half hour West Ham did a good job of suffocating Chelsea's attack but one lapse of concentration from Michail Antonio undid all that good work. For the next few minutes Chelsea were in complete control until they shot themselves in the foot and were rattled for the next few minutes following the equaliser then conjured a lovely goal. Very entertaining half.

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01:23 PM

Mount's finish

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01:21 PM

Half-time West Ham 1 Chelsea 2

After lengthy treatment for Havertz, the ref blows for half-time as soon as they restart. Both Zouma and Havertz limp back for their orange quarters.

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01:20 PM

The penalty

Lanzini steps up ...

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01:18 PM

45+3 min West Ham 1 Chelsea 2

Haverts requires treatment after crashing into the goal following Zouma's vital sliding tackle.

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01:18 PM

45+2 min West Ham 1 Chelsea 2

From the kick-off Antonio spots Mendy off his line and tries to chip him but the ball sails off to the left.

Johnson limps off and on comes Masuaku at left wing-back.

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01:17 PM

45 min West Ham 1 Chelsea 2

Loftus-Cheek wins the ball in the centre-circle then arcs a chip out to Ziyech running down the left. He controls it with a velvety touch then floats an outswinging cross over to the back post where Mount meets it 15 yards out and guides a lovely right-foot volley with his instep inside the near post. Fabianski should have done better.

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01:14 PM

GOAL!!

West Ham 1 Chelsea 2 (Mount) Brilliant goal. As good as you'll see.

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01:13 PM

42 min West Ham 1 Chelsea 1

West Ham fans are screeching sarcastically when Mendy makes a clearance that doesn't have the direction or distance he expected.

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01:12 PM

40 min West Ham 1 Chelsea 1

Lanzini is right in James' face after scoring. Jorginho shouldn't have put Mendy in that position but the keeper also had time to lump it into Row Z but decided to show that he is a baller by trying a flick and a turn to escape Bowen and falling flat on his egg-splattered face. As Ruud Gullit once said, goalkeepers can't play football. That's why they're goalkeepers.

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01:10 PM

GOAL!!

West Ham 1 Chelsea 1 (Lanzini, pen) Buries it unstoppably into the left of the goal, having sent Mendy the other way.

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01:09 PM

West Ham penalty!!

Dreadful backpass from Jorginho and Mendy, trying to set himself for the kick with Bowen breathing down his neck, turns, loses it and chops him down.

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01:08 PM

37 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1

Glenn Hoddle points out that Fbianski's feet were off the ground when Thiago Silva made contact which meant that he couldn't dive far enough to reach it with his palm rather than his fingertips.

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01:06 PM

35 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1

Christensen has a dig from 25 yards out and his shot sails high, wide and hideously into the crowd but moments later Mount has a pop, too, and at least conjures a save from Fabianski but it was fired too close to him from 25 yards through human traffic.

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01:04 PM

33 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1

Good chance for Loftus-Cheek but he thumps his shot from 20 yards straight into Fabianski's chest.

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01:03 PM

31 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1

Thiago Silva demonstrates his defensive nous barely a minute after scoring to lurk at the back post and behind Mendy to whack Coufal's shot across goal off the line.

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01:02 PM

29 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1

Thiago Silva catches Antonio cold with a clever run and Antonio can't get his feet set to challenge in the air from a tight-wing corner. Thiago meets it crisply and knocks it into the keeper's bottom left corner. Fabianski got a finger tip to it at full-stretch but didn't have the strength in his knuckle to claw it away, knocking it on to the post and in.

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12:58 PM

GOAL!!!

West Ham 0 Chelsea 1 (Thiago Silva)

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12:57 PM

27 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

James, Chelsea's brightest attacking spark, slips down the right and stands up a cross for Havertz who has allowed Dawson to go towards the ball and exploited his movement to dash between him and Zouma but his header is poor, not enough power, pace o precision to beat Fabianski who flops to his left to gather easily.

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12:55 PM

25 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

Jorginho is hounded off the ball and his feet by Rice and Bowen as West Ham up their pressing intensively all of a sudden. Jorginho falls on the ball then picks it up and hurls it in disgust when penalised, earning himself a booking. From the free-kick, 20 yards inside their own half, they pick out Antonio who shoots from the left-side of the box, hammering a shot that never looked like troubling Mendy.

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12:53 PM

23 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

Coufal blocks the cross out for a corner. Ziyech takes but can't beat the first man.

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12:51 PM

21 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

West Ham win the near-post flick on. Chelsea scramble it out to the left of the box where it falls, unfortunately, to Dawson, who has to snatch at a shot that is harmlessly poked straight at Mendy.

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12:50 PM

19 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

Rice takes the free-kick, 35 yards out, wide right and bends it to the left of the D where Loftus-Cheek heads the menacing cross behind for a corner.

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12:49 PM

18 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

Rice is fouled - his control is excellent - but the referee plays advantage as he prods the ball forward to Lanzini as he falls and Jorginho wrestles the Hammers' attacking midfielder to the floor,

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12:47 PM

16 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

West Ham have a good spell of possession but they can't break the lines and after 20 or so passes Christensen picks off Johnson's attempt to play Antonio down the inside-left. West Ham then retreat deep into banks of five and four.

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12:45 PM

13 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

As Darke and Hoddle point out, West Ham are trying to play this as an away side, using the counter-attack and allowing Chelsea as much possession as they like. Rudiger needlessly fouls Bowen to stifle a promising Chelsea attack down the left.

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12:42 PM

11 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

James drifts infield and receives the ball to the left of the D from Alonso and Mount's move, thumping it low to Fabianski's right who gets across and saves the bobbling ball unhindered by the sun in his eyes.

A minute earlier Antonio bullocks down the left and bends a centre-forward's ideal cross into the box for the usually lethal Soucek, who bluntly heads it wide. Should have scored.

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12:39 PM

8 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

There's a minute's applause for Arthur Labinjo-Hughes on six minutes.

After that Thiago Silva misplaces a chip and Bowen gobbles it up and drives down the inside-left before spanking a shot from 20 yards that whistles over the bar.

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12:38 PM

6 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

Seems to have been a slight Hoddlesque Chilwell/Cresswell mix-up there, suggesting that Alonso had lost his place to Cresswell and now he has a chance to win it back.

Chelsea attack down the right and Diop is not looking very secure in that left-sided centre-back role, leaving too much space between Johnson and the left touchline. James bombs into the space and whips over a cross that is just ahead of Ziyech who extends his leg as far as he can and tries to stab it through the six-yard box but finds a thicket of West Ham legs blocking him.

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12:34 PM

4 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

Good run from Bowen to split Rudiger and Thiago Silva but the long diagonal from the right fortuitously bounces close enough to Rudiger for him to hack it away.

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12:33 PM

3 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

Diop shoves James over needlessly as Rice had already stepped across him. Free-kick 35 yardsout on the right. Rice wins the header off the overly floaty free-kick. Needed more whip and dip.

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12:31 PM

1 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0

The players take a knee then Chelsea kick off, attacking from left to right. They play it around on the right then back to Christensen who knocks it long up the right and Diop mops up.

Chelsea win the ball back on halfway and send Mount up the left where he earns a throw-in by the corner flag off Coufal's shins.

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12:27 PM

Out come the teams to Bubbles

Chelsea are in yellow and black, Yer Actual West Ham in claret and blue, naturally.

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12:15 PM

David Moyes on his change to 3-4-3

I've made the changes for tactical reasons against Chelsea to try and negate their strengths and what they do. We've been making chances but not converting them. We had plenty of chances against Manchester City to win the game.

He also says, interestingly, that their success means more players than ever are now absent on international duty and last season they used those three fortnights very effectively to drill the players on the system.

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12:08 PM

Thomas Tuchel on why Lukaku is still on the bench and how he feels about it

The schedule is relentless. We need to build Romelu up [because] there is a difference between match ready and training ready and Premier League ready. He needs to be patient and that is not his nature.

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11:55 AM

On BT Sport Gianfranco Zola

Has dropped a pre-lunch 'bulls---'! He was being asked whether he was innately gifted or whether he worked hard. He bridled the hypothesis that talent was a substitute for graft in choice terms for which he will be forgiven because he is so lovable.

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11:46 AM

And now for those of you watching in black and white

West Ham United Fabianski; Zouma, Dawson, Diop; Coufal, Soucek, Rice, Johnson; Bowen, Lanzini, Antonio.
Substitutes Areola, Yarmolenko, Fornals, Vlasic, Noble, Benrahma, Masuaku, Kral, Ashby.

Chelsea Mendy; Christensen, Thiago Silva, Rudiger; James, Loftus-Cheek, Jorginho, Marcos Alonso; Ziyech, Mount Havertz.
Substitutes Kepa, Lukaku, Pulisic, Werner, Saul, Barkley, Hudson-Odoi, Azpilicueta, Sarr.

Referee: Andre Marriner (Solihull).

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11:35 AM

Chelsea make four changes

This is your Chelsea team today! 🤝@ParimatchGlobal #WhuChe pic.twitter.com/SfROWieauC

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 4, 2021

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11:33 AM

West Ham opt for three at the back

📋 Two changes from the boss. Here's how we line up today...

COME ON YOU IRONS! ⚒@betway | #WHUCHE pic.twitter.com/yZ1PI14WJK

— West Ham United (@WestHam) December 4, 2021

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11:31 AM

Good afternoon

David Moyes has been talking about Michail Antonio in the build-up to this afternoon's opening Premier League fixture.

Antonio has been involved in 10 goals in his last 10 Premier League London derbies, but has not found the net for the Hammers since October 24 during a 1-0 win over Tottenham.

The 31-year-old started the season in emphatic fashion, scoring four goals in the first three top-flight matches, but has scored only three more times since.

"I think when you're a centre forward we can think of many who go through a barren spell and don't quite get the goals and it's not going in for them," Moyes said.

"I mean, Mic been a little bit unlucky, he had a really good header the other night that the keeper made a save from. Mic is really important for us, he is a focal point for our team.

"We've needed him over the last couple of years playing as a centre forward. We've missed him when we have not had him so I'm hoping we can get him back into scoring ways and into top form."

The Hammers currently sit fourth in the Premier League, a point ahead of Arsenal in fifth and three points clear of Manchester United.

Moyes is likely to still be without Aaron Cresswell for the match against Chelsea while Angelo Ogbonna remains sidelined with a cruciate ligament injury.

Thomas Tuchel, meanwhile, is delighted by the "massive" boost of Reece James and Jorginho's return to fitness. James missed Wednesday's 2-1 win at Watford with an ankle injury, while Italy midfielder Jorginho was not fit enough to start.

Chelsea are still without sidelined quartet Trevoh Chalobah, Mateo Kovacic, N'Golo Kante and Ben Chilwell for the trip. "Reece James and Jorginho are both available again," said Tuchel.

"It's massive, because Reece is the specialist on the right, and Jorgi is the guy left from Mateo Kovacic, N'Golo Kante and him from the three on whose shoulders we put the central role over a very long period now.

"I'm absolutely happy that Ruben Loftus-Cheek steps in in the way he does it, but we are happy that Jorgi is back in training."