Timo Werner strike dents West Ham's top four hopes as David Moyes blasts 'rotten' Var red card decision
Matt Law
·22 min read
West Ham United vs Chelsea, Premier League: live score and latest updates - Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
Werner scores only goal but also misses several gilt-edged chances
Balbuena sent off in controversial circumstances
Timo Werner scored a rare goal that put Champions League qualification into Chelsea’s hands just a few days after the club’s board had entered the plot to render the top-four race meaningless.
Chelsea vice-chairman Bruce Buck, who was at the London Stadium, may have particularly enjoyed watching the victory just a stone’s throw away from West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady, who had branded the European Super League plotters “snakes” ahead of kick-off.
And the fury felt by Brady about the breakaway attempt was almost matched by West Ham manager David Moyes over the Var red card shown to Fabian Balbuena that killed any late hope of a fightback for his side.
Balbuena’s foot planted into the calf of Ben Chilwell in the same movement in which the West Ham defender cleared the ball. Referee Chris Kavanagh was sent to the pitchside monitor to view the slow-motion replays and showed the red card.
“I think it’s a rank, rotten decision made by somebody who has never played the game,” said Moyes. “I don’t know where Fabio Balbuena is supposed to plant his foot.
“I don’t see how it’s a red card. He’s kicked through the ball, I don’t think for one minute there’s a bit of malice in that trying to catch him. I thought it was a rubbish decision. Chilwell got up after rolling about and crossed the ball into the box
“But we’ll go again, we’re in a decent position, there’s games to play and, hopefully, we are right in the mix for some form of European football right to the end and I’ll keep trying to push to make that the Champions League if we can."
Ben Chilwell is fouled by West Ham United's Fabian Balbuena - Pool via REUTERS/Justin Setterfield
It would be a stretch to claim that the sending-off cost West Ham a point, as, other than scoring, Werner missed a sitter and substitute Tammy Abraham failed to convert a header from under the crossbar with the last touch of the game.
West Ham, without Michail Antonio, Declan Rice and Aaron Creswell, had posed little threat to Chelsea’s well-drilled defence who kept yet another clean sheet.
It is that defensive record that could see Chelsea over the line in the race for Champions League qualification after Thomas Tuchel’s fourth-placed team moved three points ahead of the Hammers and four clear of Liverpool.
“It was a six-pointer,” said Tuchel. “The win was well deserved. We played amazing in the first half. We suffered a bit with their intensity, but I think we deserved to win. It’s a very important win.
"It was a pretty normal preparation and we did not talk one more word about Super League from Tuesday on. I felt everybody was very concentrated and enjoying the focus on the game.”
On Werner’s goal and missed chances, Tuchel added: “It (the goal) was well deserved because it was a good performance. He was great at holding the ball and distributing the balls. He could have had a second goal and after that he lost a bit of confidence, but it was a good performance."
Chelsea's Timo Werner scores their side's first goal of the game during the Premier League match at London Stadium - Justin Setterfield/PA
Werner was one of the six changes Tuchel made to his Chelsea team, following the draw against Brighton in which he and his players had been distracted by the Super League fall-out.
There were no such distractions on Saturday and Werner should really have finished the game with a hat-trick after missing great chances either side of his third goal in 32 games for Chelsea.
Werner squandered his first opportunity in just the third minute when he fired a Mason Mount cutback over the crossbar, but he did not let his head drop and had two more efforts deflected wide before opening the scoring shortly before half-time.
The summer signing from RB Leipzig started the move with a good turn and pass to Christian Pulisic, who found Chilwell and Werner had moved into the perfect position to side-foot the left wing-back’s cross into the net.
It was almost unmissable, but Werner deserved his goal having been the visitors’ most dangerous forward player and he will still be wondering how he didn’t double his and Chelsea’s tally 10 minutes after the break.
Mount’s shot from outside the area was palmed straight back to Werner by Lukask Fabianski and he just had to tap the ball into the empty net. But he somehow scuffed the ball wide and Tuchel turned away in utter disbelief inside his technical area.
Werner and Chelsea were almost punished for the profligacy, as first Mount blocked a powerful drive from Ryan Fredericks and then Jesse Lingard looped a shot just wide of Edouard Mendy’s left-hand post.
“The second chance I have to score, but I have to come back slowly,” said Werner. “One goal is enough. Two goals might be too much for the beginning!
“It’s great to be back on the scoresheet. Callum [Hudson-Odoi] said to me I’ll score today, and 30 seconds later Tammy [Abraham] came to me and said I’d score today. They told me to point to them when I score.
“This season it’s not only the confidence, maybe it’s also luck. Last year the ball always went in, this year it’s different. I’m confident that the chances like my second one will also go in, in the next weeks and months.”
Werner checked back when he should have shot after Vladimir Coufal presented him with a chance in the West Ham penalty area, shortly before the incident that saw Balbuena dismissed.
West Ham still looked to be in shock at the decision, when Mount delivered a cross in stoppage time that Abraham somehow headed over and Moyes was still smarting long after the final whistle that followed.
Only Manchester City have collected more points than Chelsea since Tuchel’s arrival and he added: “These performances are the new benchmark now. I am very happy with the consistency of quality and the level we are delivering every three days.”
06:26 PM
Full-time West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
An enjoyable game ends with another Chelsea miss, Abraham leaning back with a gaping goal in front of him, six yards out. He can't quite reach Mount's cross with his forehead and steers it over with the crown of his head.
Chelsea missed myriad chances, West Ham were in it until the sending off, which I would dispute but I admit I'm a dinosaur on that issue, and Mount, once again, proves what a fantastic player he is.
06:23 PM
90+4 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Mendy is booked for timewasting and Kante for a foul in the centre-circle when Mendy eventually takes the goalkick.
06:22 PM
90+3 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Benrahma picks up the ball 25 yards out, has four ahead of him but takes on the shot, floating it wide.
Coufal as he clears kicks Rudiger on the thigh in his followthrough and isn't even booked. The double standards make no sense at all.
06:20 PM
90+2 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Mount has another long-range effort, this one, which wasn't troubling the goal, is deflected out for a corner. Ogbonna wins the header and sets West Ham off down the right.
06:19 PM
90 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
There will indeed be five minutes of injury time.
06:18 PM
89 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
There'll be a good five minutes at least added on after Chelsea's time wasting over the substitutions. Benrahma diddles James and Christensen on the left but his ball across the box goes through it and out towards Abrahams tucked in on the Chelsea left.
06:16 PM
87 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Here comes the lesser-spotted Tammy Abraham, West Ham's centre-forward next season, possible, replacing Werner.
06:15 PM
85 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Chelsea substitution - Reece James for Azpilicueta who takes an age to go off and has a flea inserted in his ear by David Moyes as he crosses the white line. He bites back and has to be restrained.
06:13 PM
84 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Mount hits the wall with the free-kick.
06:13 PM
82 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Chelsea free-kick. That decision has burst West Ham's bubbles and David Moyes looks justly miffed.
06:10 PM
Red card
That's a rubbish decision. Balbuena is sent off for reckless play. If anything Chilwell was equally at fault. Where was Balbuena's foot supposed to go in the followthrough?
06:08 PM
80 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
The referee is off to have a look at the monitor.
06:07 PM
78 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Ziyech makes a mess of a run into the box by trying to offload with the outside of his left foot straight into Ogbonna. Balbuena catches Chilwell on the calf after clearing the ball, catching him in the followthrough. VAR is checking for a possible red card. Not for me, Umberto.
06:05 PM
76 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Chris Coleman needs a handkerchief. West Ham need an orthodox centre-forward for moments like this when they need to push Thiago Silva back and give Benrahma, Lingard and Bowen a little more room.
06:02 PM
74 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Benrahma is trying to slip in the gap between Jorginho and Kante and the back three.
Substitution: Pulisic is given the big curly finger and Ziyech is sent on in his stead.
06:01 PM
72 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Lanzini tries to play Fredericks down the left side of the box with the return in a one-two but Azpilicueta blocks the left wing-back off by running across him.
05:59 PM
70 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Fredericks turns Azpilicueta, hurdles his tackle and is only stopped by Christensen's diligence.
05:57 PM
68 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Said Benrahma and Manuel Lanzini replace Fornals and Noble. Ogbonna takes the armband.
05:56 PM
66 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
West Ham are preparing a couple of substitutes. Werner drives down the right and is picked out by Christensen's long pass. He chops the ball and cuts inside Diop, shifts it onto his left and flays a left-foot shot that stings Fabianski's hands again in a diving save.
05:52 PM
64 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Mason Mount takes the pass from Pulisic 25 yards out, left of centre. He rolls the ball away with his studs then whips a dipping shot with his instep that would have crept under the bar and into the top right corner but for Fabianski's full-stretch diving save.
05:50 PM
62 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
All West Ham in attack now and Lingard, after some fluent passing sets Fredericks up for a thunderous drive that Christensen blocks, spanks a right-foot shot that drifts just wide of the right upright.
05:48 PM
60 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
West Ham free-kick for a Azpilicueta foul on Fredericks. Thirty-five yards out, left of centre. Lingard tries to doddle the keeper by swiping a shot to the near post when set up to cross to the far. But he doesn't catch Mendy out.
05:47 PM
58 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Frederickshas the beating of Azpilicueta every time in a race but his left peg is not so reliable as his pace. He squares a pass this time and West Ham work it over to the right. 'Shoot!' is the cry from the bench but Fornals lays it off and Bowen is surrounded.
05:44 PM
56 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Werner reverts to his Chelsea mean when Mount clatters a right-foot shot from 22 yards that Fabianksi dives to his right to claw away from goal. Werner, a scavenger, is in like Flynn on to the rebound but as Fabianski lunges at the ball with his feet , he drags his attempt wide of the far post. Dreadful miss.
05:42 PM
54 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Chelsea's turn to expose a vulnerability on the right when Mount flies down that flank and zips over a good cross that Coufal hacks away.
05:40 PM
52 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Coufal is in down the right again but his cross, with only Bowen to aim for, is met by Thiago Silva and headed clear.
05:39 PM
50 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Chelsea are approaching the half as if they're confident of defending a 1-0 lead and will just concentrate on catching them on the break. Quite scrappy at the start of the half. Coufal gets down the right but overhist his cross and Azpilicueta smashes it upfield.
05:36 PM
48 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Vital tackle from Ogbonna stops Mount and Werner getting into the box.
05:34 PM
46 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
West Ham kick-off. Same XIs, no changes. Werner carries the ball up the right and earns a throw-in when he draws the tackle.
05:22 PM
Here's Werner's finish
Chelsea's German striker Timo Werner (R) shoots to score the opening goal of the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Chelsea - ANDY RAIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
05:20 PM
Half-time West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
A slow see-saw in terms of momentum given the switch to West Ham pressure in the last 20 minutes of the half which was still in full swing when Chelsea hit them on the break and scored. Werner, Pulsic and Mount are a handful to track. Such clever movers and passers. That notwithstanding, West Ham looked the likelier to score and will continue to threaten as long as Soucek and Noble can smother Kante and Jorginho.
05:17 PM
45 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 1
Have mentioned his positioning and this time his finishing matches his all-round play. He makes space by halting his sprint through the middle after starting the move with a pass to Pulisic, spinning Ogbonna and striding ahead then accelerating into the box so when Chilwell squares it towards the penalty spot he has a gap to sidefoot the ball home from 12 yards.
05:14 PM
GOOOOOOAL!!
West Ham 0 Chelsea 1 (Werner)
05:13 PM
42 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Lingard, who took a heavy knock 25 minutes ago, is limping, until Soucek finds him in the centre-circle and he turns on the after-burners and heads off at full pelt for the Chelsea box. Christenesen puts his hands on his shoulders to pull him down and go into the book.
05:11 PM
40 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
From the corner Bowen takes it short but instead of playing Lingard in behind, opts to take it deep and fore a left-foot shot that rebounds out to Coufal. He dinks a long diagonal back into the box, aimed for the far post but Balbuena's header is too tame to trouble Mendy.
05:09 PM
38 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
West Ham appeal for a penalty from the free-kick after Ogbonna's knock down sets up Soucek's hacked shot that strikes Azpilicueta's arm, pinned to his side and then off his knee and behind for a corner. VAR takes a look and does not intervene.
05:07 PM
36 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
West Ham free-kick when Lingard breaks on to the counter and he is brought down in full-flight by a sliding Werner.
05:06 PM
35 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Coufal plays a one-two with Bowen, goes down the right and whips over a cross that is headed out to the edge of the area. Lingard meets it and skelps a left-foot shot into Thiago Silva.
05:04 PM
33 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
West Ham successfully messing with Chelsea's rhythm, slowing the game down with Soucek and Noble to the fore.
05:04 PM
31 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Great footwork frpm Mount to kill a long, scooped pass on his toe down the right then , with Diop close to him to switch it inside and find Werner who wafts a right leg at a shot and slices it over the angle of cross and bar on the right. His movement and combination play is great, his finishing atrocious.
05:01 PM
30 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Bowen chases a long ball down the middle - Mendy is alive to the danger and uses his head outside the box to clear.
05:00 PM
28 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Kante slips into the box down the roght but Noble is all over him like a rash and give shim no chance to square it before the ball runs out of play.
04:59 PM
25 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Moyes's defence is well drilled and Soucek and Noble are effective screening players, forcing Mount up a cul de sac.
04:57 PM
23 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Good movement from Chelsea's front three, the mice against the cats of Ogbonna, Balbuena and Diop. But the bigger men are so far holding firm.
04:55 PM
21 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Chelsea have a corner on the right which West Ham defend well and a couple of phases later Christensen treads on Soucek's foot as he battled to stop the Hammers' midfielder breaking forward up the left.
04:52 PM
19 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Werner comes back 30 yards tracking Lingard to thwart a counter-attack. Jorginho less prominent than usual under Tuchel so far.
04:49 PM
17 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Werner piles down the right and squares it for Pulisic who snatches at a side-foot finish from 15 yards and scuffs it weakly which allows Fabianski to flop on top of it. Should have scored.
04:47 PM
15 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Noble stops Pulisic in his stride and Soucek and Ogbonna smother the Chelsea attack. They combine to send Fredericks up the left and he has the beating of Azpilicueta who is left in his wake. He makes 60 yards but, perhaps not trusting his left foot with an artful drag-back for Lingard, he just wellies it with his swinger and blazes the ball over the bar from a tight angle.
04:45 PM
13 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Not this one, though, which sails down Edouard Mendy's throat.
04:44 PM
11 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Mount, who has been lively, shoots from the right of the D but hits it far too close to Fabianski. From Fabianski's punt West Ham attack up the right and earn a corner which gives Cookie Coleman a chance to work in his research material - Yer Actual West 'Am score 33 per cent of their goals from set-pieces.
04:42 PM
9 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
West Ham hustle Chilwell through Bowen, Coufal and Fornals until they win the ball back and drive forward. Bowen bombs up the middle, draws Thiago Silva towards him but delays the pass to Lingard that would have put him in behind Christiansen for a second too long. To Lingard's frustration he is caught offside but it was Bowen's fault.
04:38 PM
7 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Bowen spooks Chelsea's defence with a long dribble up the inside-right. Eventually he's forced back by sheer weight of numbers but it gave West Ham a counter-attacking thrust to relieve the pressure they had been under in their own half.
04:36 PM
5 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
First chance for Chelsea. Mount peels off down the right and whips over an outswinging low cross. Wener pulls away from Balbuena and has room by the penalty spot to swing his right foot at a half-volley that he drags high, wide and hideously past the left post.
04:34 PM
3 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Kante, Werner and Azpilicueta play triangles up the right, taking on Fredericks, the right-back standing in at left-back, but he does well enough to hold them at bay until they force the ball out for a goalkick.
04:33 PM
1 min West Ham 0 Chelsea 0
Chelsea kick-off, the only deviation from their home strip is royal blue socks which makes them look like Leicester City. Chris Coleman, who has not been working as a co-commentator for a number of years, seems to be back on the roster this week.
04:31 PM
The players are out
And about to take the knee as part of the year-long No Room for Racism campaign.
04:17 PM
Moyes speaks
We're trying to break into the top four and upset the apple cart. It's a challenge we're trying to take on. It was much more pressure last year than this. Inside the dressing room we all want to play well. We beat them last year here to stay up. Injuries are part and parcel of football at all clubs, no one thinks much of it if you complain about injuries but yes, we're short at the moment.
04:13 PM
Tuchel speaks
We took the normal approach. Me, personally, I switched off all internet around me, no news, no football after the Tuesday game. So totally normal approach. Business as usual. Big game coming up.It’s big but not decisive, and if you see the schedule we have, nothing is decided after this match. But we want the three points. We know how hard it is but we are prepared for that. We have a good record in away matches and we know we have to deliver a top performance.We have looked at West Ham, very strong in the air and with Thiago, Rudi and Andreas we have gone for more centimetres, that is all.
03:50 PM
And now for those of you watching in black and white
West Ham United Fabianski, Diop, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Coufal, Noble, Soucek, Fredericks; Fornals, Lingard,; Bowen. Substitutes Randolph, Yarmolenko, Benrahma, Lanzini, Alves, Johnson, Trott, Odubeko, Coventry.
Another of today's meetings between one of the Super League conspiracy clubs and one of the 14 they intended to leave behind in a diminished league while they hoovered up £300m golden hellos from JP Morgan and Florentino Perez. Chelsea were the first of the 12 plotters to cut and run, opting for the sack-cloth and ashes of remorse without reform. They're sorry for provoking such an excoriating backlash to their attempt to pervert 133 years of our football history and steal the game from those on whose backs and bucks it was built but are only sorry about the backlash not what caused it - their greed and monstrous sense of entitlement. Oh, and if we could all stop talking about it now, as Jurgen Klopp requested this morning, that would be nice. Let bygones be bygones ... until the next time.
Having said that Chelsea were the first of the dominoes to fall, which makes them, shall we say, a tiny bit less tarnished than Real Madrid and Juventus. Let's not render words meaningless by seeking to apply 'honourable' as some have to their volte-face. As I wrote earlier, let vigilance and reform be our watchwords. The barbarians are not at the gate of football, they're in the boardroom. These reticent, largely uncommunicative, unaccountable and elusive billionaires have taken over football like the stoats and weasels took over Toad Hall. This week shows that another way is still possible if we stick together.
Right, on to more trivial matters. Chelsea, sitting in fourth place, have the same number of points as West Ham United in fifth but enjoy a superior goal difference to the tune of eight.
The visitors have a Champions League semi-final first leg tie against Real Madrid next week and, having drawn with Brighton on Tuesday, the day the house of cards collapsed, are sure to rotate at the London Stadium. West Ham, who squandered that fightback against Newcastle late last weekend, are a long way off full strength with Craig Dawson suspended, Declan Rice and Michail Antonio injured and Aaron Cresswell a major doubt after missing last week.
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