Paqueta seals victory for 10-man West Ham over Chelsea

THREE POINTS IN BAG: West Ham overcame Chelsea to seal three points. Pic: Julian Finney/Getty Images

West Ham United 3 Chelsea 1 

THE transfer fees of other summer signings at the London Stadium may have dwarfed the £30m West Ham paid for James Ward-Prowse, yet it was the England midfielder who bestrode his side’s gritty victory over Chelsea.

His two assists provided rare moments of opportunity for West Ham converted by Nayef Aguerd and Michail Antonio before the home side had to play with 10 men for much of the second half after Aguerd was sent off.

By contrast, Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo, who cost a potential £115m, came off the bench to concede a late penalty converted by Lucas Paqueta, while Chelsea’s other purchase this week, £58m Romeo Lavia, did not even make the squad.

To add to Mauricio Pochettino’s despair, Enzo Fernandez also missed a penalty for Chelsea.

While Ward-Prowse’s free-kicks make highlights reels, it is the midfielder’s ability to curl over corners with pace and whip which will provide West Ham with an even more potent threat from set pieces than they enjoyed last season.

He had already given one example of his prowess when Kurt Zouma tested Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez with a header.

When the home side won a second corner in the seventh minute, Ward-Prowse’s delivery arced over the Chelsea defenders as Aguerd back-pedalled into space at the far post. The Moroccan was left with the seemingly simple task of heading downwards into the corner of an unguarded net.

Chelsea’s response was immediate when Nicolas Jackson burst through the heart of the West Ham defence and was felled by the onrushing Alphonse Areola. A marginal offside decision spared Areola having to face a penalty.

The fluidity of Pochettino’s side continued to stretch the home defence which was requiring ever more desperate blocks and lunges to deny Chelsea an equaliser.

With the mobile Jackson willing to make runs to the outside and linking up especially well with Ben Chilwell, the visitors were providing elusive targets for their markers.

Chilwell was involved in the 28th-minute move from which Carney Chukwuemeka made it 1-1, exchanging passes and then seizing on a stabbed clearance to step inside and send a searing shot past Areola.

In a rare West Ham foray, Lucas Paqueta, whose proposed move to Manchester City has been stalled by a probe into his potential involvement in a betting scam, clipped the outside of the post.

Most of the play was coming at the other end.

With Fernandez controlling play with silky footwork and balance, combined with intelligent running from Chukwuemeka and driving, determined runs past defenders by a reinvigorated Raheem Sterling, the home side were struggling to repel Chelsea’s advances.

Sterling jinked inside once more in the 42nd minute and was felled by Tomas Soucek to concede a penalty.

Fernandez committed his only error of an otherwise imperious first half display with a stuttering run-up to the spot-kick which gave Areola time to beat away the Argentina World Cup winner’s spot-kick.

Chelsea still had time to waste another opportunity before half-time when Chilwell shot tamely following another sublime Sterling run.

Injury caused Chukwuemeka to be replaced by Mykhailo Mudryk at half-time.

For all Chelsea’s possession and intricacy, West Ham showed that one incisive pass can have the same effect when they re-took the lead after 53 minutes.

Ward-Prowse was again the provider, spotting Antonio’s run as the ball broke to him on halfway. Antonio sprinted into space before driving the ball hard and true into the opposite corner as Chelsea’s defenders stood off.

Caicedo was introduced for his debut on the hour and almost immediately caught a 20-yard shot well but saw it fly wide.

It seemed as though West Ham’s doggedness would see out the game until Aguerd lunged needlessly into a tackle in midfield on Jackson after 67 minutes and was shown a second yellow card.

David Moyes used his substitutes astutely to re-energise his depleted side, while Chelsea were never able to regain their first half fluency.

Ward-Prowse departed to a standing ovation and was replaced by Alvarez whose first act was to throw his body into a block that summed up West Ham’s tenacious spirit and earned them a precious first victory.

That was sealed when Caicedo brought down Emerson in injury-time and Paqueta sent Sanchez the wrong way with the resultant penalty.

West Ham United (4-2-3-1):  Areola 7; Coufal 6, Zouma 7, Aguerd 6, Emerson 6; Soucek 6, Ward-Prowse 8 (Alvarez 81, 7); Bowen 6, Paqueta 7, Benrahma 5 (Ogbonna 69, 6); Antonio 8 (Fornals 76, 7) Subs not used: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Mubama, Cornet, Ings 

Chelsea (3-4-2-1):  Sanchez 6; Disasi 6, Silva 6, Colwill 6; Gusto 7 (Burstow 83, 6), Fernandez 8, Gallagher 6 (Madueke 75, 6), Chilwell 8 Caicedo 61, 7); Sterling 8, Chukwuemeka 8 (Mudryk 46, 5), Jackson 7 Subs not used: Bergstrom, Maatsen, Cucurella, Ugochukwu, Humphreys 

Referee: John Brooks