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Ex-Chelsea player Emerson Palmieri equalised for West Ham to split the points in the London derby
Chelsea new boy Joao Felix finally got off the mark for the Blues and banished the ghosts of his unfortunate debut for the club, but his goal was not enough as Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham at the London Stadium in the first Premier League fixture of the day.
Felix’s early goal was cancelled out by ex-Chelsea fullback Emerson Palmieri, who struck to break his old club’s heart.
The match had its fair share of controversy as both sides had a goal each ruled out by VAR, but West Ham will feel especially hard done by as what was supposed to be their later winner was cancelled in very contentious circumstances
How it happened
Joao Felix was in the Chelsea squad for the first time since getting sent off on his debut against Fulham and was joined by other new signings including Mykhaylo Mudryk, Noni Madudeke, Benoit Badiashile, and Enzo Fernandez.
It was two of Chelsea’s January signings who combined to give them an early lead, as Enzo Fernandez’ incredible pass found Joao Felix unmarked and in space in the penalty area and the Portuguese forward made no mistake to put Chelsea 1-0 up after 16 minutes.
They thought they had doubled the lead when Kai Havertz scored after being played through on goal by a brilliant pass from Mudryk, but they were denied by the first controversial call by VAR on the night.
Chelsea soon came to rue the VAR decision even more after ex-Blue defender Emerson stole in at the far post to turn in Tomas Soucek’s cross to make it 1-1 just before the half-hour mark.
Chelsea went close to scoring again just before the break as Joao Felix attempted to find the bottom corner from outside the penalty area, but his stinging drive was well saved by Łukasz Fabiański in goal for West Ham.
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Felix may have started on shaky ground at Chelsea, but the more he plays, the more it looks like his hefty loan fee might be worth it in the end.
At half-time, both teams went into the break level but with Chelsea feeling they could have gotten more from the opening 45 minutes.
In the second half, Chelsea continued to dominate the game and ended the half with 73% possession.
They however struggled to fashion any meaningful chances and it was actually West Ham who had the ball in the net when Soucek scored what would surely have been the winner on 81 minutes from a set piece, but the goal was again chalked off after VAR deemed the 6’4” midfielder to be offside.
Soucek was not done influencing the match as he brought about arguably the most controversial moment of the entire match in the 89th minute.
Soucek went to the ground attempting to block Conor Gallagher’s shot from outside the box, but the ball appeared to strike his arm, taking the sting out of the shot before it reached the goalkeeper.
Chelsea players surrounded the referee Craig Pawson, pleading for a penalty, but their pleas fell on deaf ears and a very quick VAR check determined there was no penalty to be given.
Felix impressive but Chelsea still ninth
The 1-1 draw sees both Chelsea and West Ham maintain their positions on the log, with the Blues in ninth and the Hammers in 16th.
However, Chelsea’s position is precarious as Liverpool can leapfrog them if they win in the Merseyside derby against Everton.
One major positive for Chelsea from the match against West Ham is that they look to have a real player on their hands in Joao Felix. The Portuguese prodigy scored his first goal for the club, and on this showing, there could be many more for him before the summer when his loan ends.
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