For Chelsea, the only difference in the performance was the scoreline. After two consecutive goalless draws, this 1-1 at West Ham does little to suggest that Graham Potter is any closer to figuring out what he wants his Chelsea side to look like. A point does little to improve the fortunes of Chelsea and West Ham, but both will come away frustrated at not snatching three. Tomas Soucek’s disallowed goal 10 minutes from time was the closest either team came, although Chelsea will quite rightly question how the West Ham midfielder’s handball was not given as a penalty late on.
“It was a good save,” Potter said afterwards, and an extraordinary miss by the VAR followed the narrowest of offsides; Chelsea can say they got away with one and were still denied. Still, it means Potter’s side have just two wins in 13 Premier League matches, and the glow of the transfer window has now firmly gone. After a bright start, helped by the return of Joao Felix, Chelsea returned to their usual habits and Potter once again struggled to come up with a solution. Felix aside, Chelsea were blunt and uninspired – their efforts in the second half were simply more of the same after stalemates against Liverpool and Fulham.
