Hammers Battle For Another Draw to Frustrate Chelsea
Hope everyone is safe and well.
Well that was a game and half to watch! One we could have lost in the first 30mins but ended up nearly winning in the end. And surely Soucek’s handball in the area was fortunate not to be given to the visitors to seal an undeserved win.
Talk surely divides between continued injuries to key players with both Paqueta and Aguerd and whether we have finally turned a corner. And what’s with this totally switched off style of play at the start of matches? Chelsea had the lions share of the play at the start of the game and were almost out of touch within the opening minutes – it felt like the Newcastle game all over again.
Joao Felix scored after having a previous goal ruled out for offside before Kai Havertz had doubled Chelsea’s lead until it was ruled out again! VAR and linesman saving the day but serious concerns with how easy it has been for teams to get at us in the opening stages of matches.
As with the Newcastle game previously, we grew into the match and despite Chelsea having a massive 72% we still looked in the game with some excellent performances from Emerson, who was a good shout for man of the match, and Rice in midfield. Indeed it was Emerson who popped up to score the equaliser after Coufal’s excellent cross was headed on by Bowen. Emerson didn’t celebrate scoring against his old club where he spent 4 years.
Fabianski was excellent in goal pulling off some great saves and commanding his box and Bowen was also lively down the right and around the area working well with Coufal, who seems to have found some form and looking more like his old self.
Paqueta had put in one of his better performances until he was substituted with a shoulder injury. He clearly looked in pain and was finally taken off after slumping to the ground. It’s so frustrating seeing so many new signing taking to the treatment room when we need to be battling our way out of the relegation zone. We now have an anxious wait for when these players are likely to return.
We still have a lot to look forward to with FA Cup and Europa Conference League matches to come, but our climb away from the relegation zone is likely to be a stuttering one, and we will always be looking for results from those teams around us. Not an ideal situation, but the last two games have shown we have players who are prepared to fight.
It was touching to see Jack Leslie’s family and members of the Jack Leslie Campaign receive a bronze maquette of his statue that stands outside Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park Stadium and celebrate Jack’s induction into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame. The FA has awarded Jack a posthumous honorary England cap, 97 years after his original call up. The Jack Leslie Campaign was set up by Plymouth fans Matt Tiller and Greg Foxsworth in 2020 to celebrate Jacks career that spanned 14 seasons at Argyle. Jack also played for Barking Town scoring more than 250 goals and helping them to win the Essex Senior Cup in 1920. Jack retired in 1935 and became a member of the backroom staff at West Ham when he was offered he job by Ron Greenwood.
Take care everyone and I hope you enjoy my photos of the match.
Dawud
From the Stands 