On the night of February 11 (Hanoi time), Chelsea took the lead but only had one point following a 1-1 draw with West Ham in round 23 of the Premier League.
Chelsea marched to the London Olympics with the youngest average age squad in history (25 years, 14 days).
With an attack consisting of all expensive rookies such as Felix, Enzo, Mudryk, Madueke, Chelsea deployed a fast-paced game. The away team up the ball rhythmically and only needed 9 minutes to put the ball into the net of West Ham.
Felix scored following two shots from close range but the referee refused to recognize it because the former Atletico Madrid star was offside.
Chelsea fans do not have to regret for long. Just 7 minutes later, the West London team was celebrating. It’s Felix once more with a positioning phase and an accurate one-touch finish in the penalty area. The first credit belongs to Enzo Fernandez. The 121 million euro midfielder tore through the West Ham defense with an impressive drop pass.
| Felix scored his first Premier League goal. This player has an option to buy permanently for 140 million euros in the summer of 2023. |
Overcoming the victory, Chelsea continued to press the opponent and had the third time to put the ball into Fabianski’s net. However, Havertz’s goal was denied, also for offside.
After a period of underperformance, West Ham rose up and chose Chelsea’s left wing to break through. Marc Cucurella continues to show weakness in defense. In the second time the former Brighton player was overtaken, the host had an equalizer.
In the 28th minute, the Chelsea defense forgot Bowen and let the midfielder comfortably head the wall for Emerson to finish close to the wall and beat Kepa.
In the second half, Chelsea still dominated the ball (72%). However, the attacks of the away team might no longer maintain the surge. Coach Graham Potter used 4 substitutions to refresh the attack, but it was not effective.
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| Rookie of 100 million euros, Mudryk had the second game in a row to be substituted early. |
The away team played deadlocked, only to receive the second goal from a fixed ball in the 82nd minute. After Rice’s failed header, Soucek was present at the right time to kick Chelsea back. Luck sided with “The Blues”, when VAR stepped in and discovered Rice’s offside.
Drama was pushed up in the last minutes, Chelsea players surrounded the referee following the situation where the ball touched Soucek’s hand in the penalty area. However, Mr. Pawson still shook his head and let the game continue.
The London derby ended in a 1-1 draw. Chelsea have drawn for the third time in a row in the Premier League and have had their eighth consecutive away game without a win, in all competitions. Coach Potter and his students stomped on 9th place with 31 points, 9 points behind the Champions League group.
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