In the wake of bouncing back from three successive losses at home this month and securing the ‘3rd’ place ideally in the UEFA Champions League since the Premier League title is far-fetched – Chelsea does the unexpected at the last minute. Although a win was the initial expectation, the ‘Blues’ nearly suffered a draw against their London rivals West Ham United but thanks to Christian Pulisic well composure left foot strike off Marcos Alonso overlapping shot cross at the 90th minute, they emerged as victories at the end, still stacked in the ‘3rd’ position for the next six games.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at two things we observed from Chelsea 1-0 West Ham United at Stamford Bridge.
1. Teamwork
Chelsea’s teamwork was pretty amazing as all positions cohort perfectly and left no flourishes. Talk of the back three defensive units – Trevoh Chalobah, Thiago Silva, and Cesar Azpilicueta – they intertwine together, well stabilized, and a good cover to Mendy. With the flanks – Ruben Loftus-Cheek seems to get pretty long like his usual 8-role, sighted several key passes (4), and was great in the attacking phase as well. Marcos Alonso, one of his usual performances, set the sides ablaze with overlapping runs, crosses, an eye for goals, and eventually assisting in a narrow win.
Co-ordinated the midfield with the dazzled performances – N’golo Kante was more like a wandered lion on the pitch, dived deep into his own half to provide support to the defense, and partaking in the attacking as well, such a magnificent performance from the Frenchman. Jorginho was also a great partner and could have been named the man of the match but the penalty missed was a shame but anyway was well composed.
Coming in the attacking phase Kai Havertz, and Timo Werner – were all awesome, however, late substitutes Romelu Lukaku Christian Pulisic were super fun and rated high than the German duo.
Lukaku didn’t do much in the 14-minute feature but he gave ‘the Blues’ a momentum to make a deal-breaker from a penalty spot, likewise, Christian Pulisic received all headlines after his emphatic delivery in the 18-yard box. It was a great day for Thomas Tuchel and his comrades and the best way to end the month as they await the next challenge against Everton at the Goodison Park.
2. Lukasz Fabianski and Craig Dawson
These two on a normal day or the winning side could have been honored the man of the match. They were focused, smart, and above all, the top players today but Craig’s Professional last-man foul on Lukaku ruined his reputation along with a red card. Fabianski did great work in guiding the goal post and that glorious save from Jorginho’s penalty kick.
What were your observations?.
