Chelsea moved into the top four with a second-half turnaround to beat West Ham 2-1 as their former manager Graham Potter returned to Stamford Bridge.
Potter faced his old side for the first time since being sacked by the Blues in April 2023 after just seven months in charge – but saw his side surrender the lead as Enzo Maresca’s substitutions delivered.
Jarrod Bowen, on his first start since December when he fractured his left foot, fired West Ham ahead late in the first half, capitalising on Levi Colwill’s misplaced back pass.
West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola made a superb, sprawling save to keep out Cole Palmer’s free-kick which was as close as the hosts came in a first half in which Chelsea moved the ball too slowly and with no incision, as Sky Sports’ Gary Neville branded their performance “pathetic”.
With the hosts failing to improve, Enzo Maresca made four substitutions inside the opening 15 minutes of the second half which soon paid off.
Pedro Neto came off the bench to turn home from close range in the 64th minute after Enzo Fernandez’s blocked shot ran perfectly into the winger’s path. The VAR made a lengthy check for offside on Marc Cucurella while Bowen was also bundled over by Colwill much earlier in the move.
“Their first goal was a turning point,” Potter told Sky Sports, “we thought it was maybe a foul on Jarrod leading up to it. Sometimes you need those things to go your way.”
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Neto found a crucial equaliser for Chelsea!
Mohammed Kudus headed against the post from an offside position for West Ham but Chelsea were in the ascendancy having drawn level.
Their winner came fortuitously with Palmer’s centre deflecting off West Ham right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka and over goalkeeper Areola into the right corner.
Chelsea move above Newcastle and Manchester City into fourth while West Ham remain 15th and 10 points above the bottom three.
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Wan-Bissaka turned in Palmer cross as Chelsea turned it around!
Carra: Chelsea must improve to reach CL
Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football:
“Going to Chelsea is a tough game, there’s a rivalry between the two teams. This isn’t the best Chelsea team we’ve seen and they’re not in the best form.
“In some ways, being 1-0 up at half-time, with Chelsea going through a rough patch, I think Graham Potter will be disappointed they haven’t come away with something from the game.
“Chelsea need to get into better form or they will miss out on the Champions League.”
Potter: We needed a bit of luck
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Graham Potter felt the spirit of his West Ham team was fantastic and there were still lots of things to be positive about in their 2-1 loss to Chelsea.
West Ham manager Graham Potter told Sky Sports:
“The spirit of the team was fantastic. We gave everything. It was relatively even in terms of chances but we come away with nothing in terms of the result but there was lots to be positive about.
“You look at the second half. They had to make some substitutions. We were doing well but we couldn’t quite hang on and we had a real big chance at the end to take a point.
“The second one is a deflection. We have to focus on what we did well and the spirit and performance, our supporters appreciated the performance of the team.
“The shape of the team was really good. You need a bit of luck, we felt unfortunate with the lead-up to the first goal but it wasn’t to be.
“The understanding of what we want to do is there so we have to build on that.”
