West Ham’s Arthur Masuaku lit up London Stadium on Saturday when his failed cross turned into a freak late winner which gave West Ham a thrilling 3-2 victory over Chelsea.
The win closes the gap to the top three and while also distancing themselves from Arsenal. Meanwhile for the Blues it means they fall from first to third after Liverpool & Manchester City capitalised against Wolves and Watford respectively.
The Hammers have now beaten both Chelsea and Liverpool this season, handing Chelsea their second league defeat of the season and the first time that they have conceded more than once this season.
It was Chelsea who broke the deadlock in the 28th minute after Mason Mount’s corner was nodded home by 37-year-old Thiago Silva. Lukasz Fabianksi could only palm the effort onto the post inside of the post and into the net.
West Ham answered via Manuel Lanzini’s penalty after a poor Jorginho back pass left keeper Edouard Mendy in a mess. Failing to clear his lines, the Senegalese international brought down Jarrod Bowen in the penalty area.
Chelsea then re-took the lead in remarkable fashion just before half-time as Hakim Ziyech’s cross-field ball was hit sweetly on the volley by Mason Mount, beating Fabianski at his near post.
After 56 minutes the Hammers found another way to equalise as Bowen thumped an unexpected shot from the edge of the area that flew past Mendy into the back of the net.
Bowen had a chance to grab his second of the night after great work out wide by Michail Antonio, but he couldn’t stretch far enough to meet the Jamaican’s cross and could only see his shot bobble wide of the post.
Masuaku Masterclass?
The winner came in bizarre fashion after Masuaku’s attempted a cross dipped left, catching Mendy by surprise. The keeper could only palm the shot into his own net giving the Hammers the lead in the 87th minute.
When asked about Masuaku’s goal West Ham manager David Moyes told the BBC after the game: “It was very fortunate but in football you need a bit of fortune sometimes.
“In the last few games, we have lost it a little bit, but today we got it back.”
West Ham now look ahead to their game against Dynamo Zagreb in the Europa League on Thursday.
