After suffering a disappointing defeat to Southampton in midweek, Chelsea had a quick turnaround to put things right as they faced London rivals West Ham at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. While they didn't make things easy, they managed to secure a much-needed three points.
Michail Antonio put the visitor's ahead just past the hour mark, leaving further question marks over the Blues' title credentials for the season. However, substitute Ben Chilwell turned things around, scoring an equaliser before assisting Kai Havertz in the final few minutes to turn the game on its head.
The game had one final twist in it still as Maxwel Cornet appeared to put the visitor's level in injury time, however the referee overturned the decision for a foul on Edouard Mendy from Jarrod Bowen after a check on VAR. Many questioned the decision, however it meant the result stayed in the favour of the Blues.
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Discussing his side's performance after the game, Thomas Tuchel told the media: "It's hard to play a really attractive game against them [West Ham] because they do what they do at the highest level. So to turn this thing around, maybe we needed to be a goal down and have nothing to lose anymore.
"We wanted to restart the season today, and we did. Hopefully, the way we did it and the impact from the bench gives us the belief back and the confidence back that we need to play at our highest level."
Despite the victory, the national media were keen to address the officiating in the game that led to the win for Chelsea.
"Substitutes Ben Chilwell and Kai Havertz spared Chelsea more dropped points, but Todd Boehly will be expecting far more bang for his buck from Thomas Tuchel’s team who were let off the hook by Var and referee Andrew Madley."
"While Moyes and his players dwell on the awful Var decision, there is still much for Tuchel to think about given he is still yet to find an effective attacking plan."
"VAR had correctly spotted that in his follow-through Bowen clipped Mendy but the contact was slight and, in any case, the ball had already squirted several yards away and Mendy’s chances of correcting his error were slim. The goal looked good, even when slowed down to the kind of speed that warps too many decisions, but Madley opted to chalk it off and West Ham were rightly incensed."
"Chelsea did not deserve their third victory in their opening six games and would not have got it save for a controversial added time decision by referee Andrew Madley to rule what would have been an equaliser by Maxwel Cornet. Madley decided, to general astonishment, that Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy had been fouled in the build-up to the goal and ruled it out."
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