Despite playing nearly 30 minutes with 10 men, West Ham United defeated Chelsea in the London derby with a thrilling victory.
Defender Nayef Aguerd, who scored the game’s first goal with an early header, was dismissed in the 67th minute for committing a second offence. At that point, the Hammers were up 2-1.
However, despite having an advantage, Chelsea was unable to score an equaliser and eventually let up a third goal in injury time via a penalty from Lucas Paqueta in the fifth minute of the additional time.
Carney Chukwuemeka equalised for the Blues with his debut goal, but Enzo Fernandez missed a chance to give them the lead when Alphonse Areola saved his penalty.
In the 53rd minute, Michail Antonio gave West Ham the lead again with a strongly angled shot before the home team was reduced to ten men.
Mauricio Pochettino’s team was unable to produce a second equaliser despite Moises Caicedo making his second-half debut after moving from Brighton in a transfer that may set a British record.
After going two months without playing, Caicedo gave up a penalty for a foul on West Ham’s left-back Emerson. Paqueta converted the penalty kick flawlessly to give West Ham the win.
Pochettino’s terrible start as Chelsea’s new boss
Since American entrepreneur Todd Boehly and private equity company Clearlake Capital purchased Chelsea in May 2022, more than £900 million has been invested, yet the team has only earned one point from its first two competitive games under new manager Pochettino.
Two of the club’s greatest costs during that extravagant spending spree suffered a forgettable day at London Stadium.
Raheem Sterling, an England winger who was a constant danger for Chelsea, was taken down by Tomas Soucek in the penalty area, but Fernandez missed the excellent opportunity to score his first Chelsea goal, and Areola stopped Fernandez’s spot-kick by diving to his right.
Caicedo had a shaky debut in the Blues’ jersey and required a fine stop from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez after giving the ball to Pablo Fornals.
James Ward-Prowse enjoyed a “special day”
James Ward-Prowse, who replaced Declan Rice and whose £30 million transfer from Southampton was announced on Monday, won over his new fans by registering two assists: the corner for Aguerd’s goal and the feed to Antonio for the second goal for the Hammers.
