Ward-Prowse: 'It was a dream debut from a personal point of view'
DREAM DEBUT: James Ward-Prowse got his West Ham career off to a dream start. Pic: Clive Rose/Getty Images
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.
Ward-Prowse said: “It was a dream debut from a personal point of view. We went up against a very good team and showed some real resilience.”
By contrast to Ward-Prowse’s debut, Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo, who cost a potential £115m, looked out of rhythm when he came off the bench and conceded a late penalty converted by Lucas Paqueta. 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 in a barnstormer of a game.
While Pochettino consoled himself with the brilliance of the patterns his side created in a one-sided first-half, West Ham manager David Moyes was grateful for an early season win.
After managing just four points from their first seven games last season, they have that many already after just two weekends.
Moyes said: “The three points today were huge. Of our first six games, only two are at home - against Chelsea and Man City - so we’ve been dealt a tough hand.
“I was thrilled by how the players showed resolution not to be beaten by a very, very good Chelsea side who were better by a long way for long parts of the game. You have to be realistic sometimes.”
While Ward-Prowse’s free-kicks make highlights reels, the midfielder’s ability to curl over corners with pace and whip will also provide West Ham with a potent threat from set pieces.
His seventh-minute corner arced over the Chelsea defenders as Aguerd back-pedalled into space at the far post and headed downwards into an unguarded net.
Chelsea’s response was immediate. Only a marginal offside decision spared Alphonse Areola having to face a penalty when he felled Nicolas Jackson, while the fluidity of Pochettino’s side continued to stretch the home defence.
The visitors were providing elusive targets for their markers with the mobile Jackson willing to make runs to the outside.
Chilwell was involved in the 28th-minute move from which Carney Chukwuemeka equalised, 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, 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, Chelsea were dominant.
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 shot.
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 and Chelsea lost their tricky unpredictability.
For all the visitors’ 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 the Chelsea 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 that West Ham’s doggedness would see out the game in relative comfort until Aguerd lunged needlessly into a tackle on Jackson after 67 minutes and was shown a second yellow card.
Moyes used his substitutes astutely to re-energise his depleted side, while Chelsea were unable to regain their first half fluency.
Ward-Prowse departed to a standing ovation before West Ham’s tenacious victory was sealed when Caicedo brought down Emerson in injury-time and Paqueta sent Sanchez the wrong way with the resultant penalty.
Pochettino preached patience with his Chelsea side after so many summer arrivals.
He said: “I don’t believe it is a mentality problem. We are disappointed, but it is a process. The result doesn’t reflect the performance, but in football that situation happens. I prefer to start this way than playing badly and winning games.”
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)
: Fabianski, Johnson, Cresswell, Mubama, Cornet, Ings
: 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
Bergstrom, Maatsen, Cucurella, Ugochukwu, Humphreys
John Brooks
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