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My West Ham Game Of The Season

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DiamewWest Ham 3-1 Chelsea

Saturday 1 December 2012

West Ham have enjoyed an excellent first season back in the Premier League filled with numerous superb performances, but, for me, the victory at home to Chelsea stands out as the Hammers’ best game of the campaign.

The Irons hosted their west London rivals in the early kick-off on a bitterly cold Saturday at the beginning of December and the derby came in the middle of a terrible run of fixtures for Sam Allardyce’s side. This pile-up would have seen West Ham play every one of the previous season’s top eight Premier League teams over just 11 games had the Boxing Day clash with Arsenal not been postponed due to tube strikes. Thankfully, the Chelsea match proved to be a much needed winter warmer for the claret and blue Army as they witnessed their heroes battle from being 1-0 down to triumph 3-1.

Going into the game, West Ham had won only one of their last six games and were also missing star signing Andy Carroll. The big striker was out injured for two months after twisting his knee three days earlier in the 1-0 defeat away to Manchester United. This meant Carlton Cole started against Chelsea; his first start in eight weeks. Few people in the home crowd believed Cole could produce the goods against his old club, but he proved to be instrumental throughout the game.

Although poor form and Carroll’s absence stacked the odds against Big Sam and his players, they could at least take solace in Chelsea’s own form, which, by the standards of European Champions, had been nothing other than diabolical. The Blues were on a run of six league games without a win and were still smarting from the 3-0 thrashing they received from Juventus in the Champions League, especially because that defeat in Turin led to club hero Roberto Di Matteo being sacked as manager and replaced by the pariah Rafael Benitez.

The football world had been laughing at Chelsea since then. Roman Abramovich’s actions had given him the unenviable position of the world’s wealthiest circus master and, as the clowns came to east London, the Hammers harboured modest ambitions of decorating Rafa’s goateed face with a custard pie.

As it was, though, the Chelsea players treated the game as no laughing matter and instead appeared to encapsulate the spirit of an altogether different circus character, the lion, as they went for their first win under new management. Having eyed up their prey during the opening stages, the Blues attacked West Ham with ferocity and were rewarded for their untamed endeavour in the 14th minute when Juan Mata coolly opened up his body just outside the six-yard box to slot Fernando Torres’ low cross past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Chelsea continued to dominate the first half and squandered numerous chances to double their lead, including another close range effort from Mata that Jaaskelainen saved excellently and was then cleared away by Joey O’Brien. With West Ham lucky to go in only 1-0 down at the break, Sam Allardyce was forced to change things around. The gaffer brought on Matty Taylor for James Tomkins and Mohamed Diame for Gary O’Neil. The latter substitution would be the game changer.

With Diame on the field, the match became a much more balanced affair. The Senegalese midfielder was his usual bolshie self and also the catalyst the Hammers needed to seize the game from Chelsea’s grasp, driving the team forward with his typical bursts through midfield. With that source of energy as a springboard, it was not too long until West Ham found the equaliser they so desperately needed to be in with a chance of winning.

Matt Jarvis worked hard on the left-wing to charge down Cesar Azpilicueta as the full-back attempted a clearance, which presented the ball to Kevin Nolan. The captain passed back to Jarvis, who cut onto his right foot and tried to swing a cross into the middle. The ball took a wicked deflection off of Gary Cahill and looped high into the air, but still towards the six-yard area, where Carlton Cole was lurking with intent. The big forward clambered all over Branislav Ivanovic to get his head to the cross, directing it beyond Petr Cech and into the visitors’ net. It was a great moment of joy for the Hammers, and the image of Cole celebrating his goal with his teammates has become all the more emotive given the recent news that he is to leave the club after seven years of fiercely loyal service.

Worryingly for the Hammers, though, Chelsea went straight up the other end looking to restore their lead immediately. The Blues would have done exactly that had Torres not passed a shot straight to Jaaskelainen after the goalkeeper had palmed a powerful attempt by Eden Hazard straight into the Spanish striker’s path. James Collins scrambled the ball away and the home crowd breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The respite was, however, all too brief for the West Ham faithful. Chelsea kept up the pressure following the equaliser and were awarded a free-kick 30 yards from goal when Mark Noble slid in late on Ramires. After Noble went into the book, the Hammers set their wall to block the shot Juan Mata was shaping up to take. But Mata made a mockery of those defensive preparations with an exquisite curled free-kick that looped over the wall before dipping just as he had intended, only to then smack off of Jaaskelainen’s left post and bounce out across the goal area where Guy Demel was on hand to clear. Another let off for West Ham.

After that spell from the visitors, the game evened out once more and Benitez looked certain to gain a third consecutive draw in his first few games as Chelsea boss. But it was about to get much worse than that for the former Liverpool gaffer.

Just after the 80-minute mark, James Collins challenged sub Marko Marin as he received as pass in the middle of the park and the ball fell to Nolan. He quickly knocked it to Noble who instinctively picked out Jarvis with a perfect through ball that set the winger through on goal with the Chelsea defence chasing. Jarvis steadied himself on the edge of the 18-yard box and laced his shot towards the net. It was a good effort from West Ham’s record signing, but Cech had narrowed the angle and pulled off an excellent save to deny the former Wolves man. It was an excellent opportunity to go ahead, but West Ham did not have to wait long at all for another glimpse at goal. Matt Taylor swung the resultant corner in from the right and Winston Reid lost his marker to get a strong header in on goal. His effort beat Cech, but Ashley Cole was able to clear off of the line. Chelsea were now the ones holding on for dear life, and the Blues’ charmed existence lasted only five minutes longer.

West Ham had a throw-in on the left wing. After a quick exchange with Nolan, O’Brien dinked a pass into Carlton Cole on the corner of the penalty area by the byline. The striker controlled the bouncing ball on his chest and laid it onto Diame, who was lurking on the edge of penalty area. As it boggled towards the midfielder, he adjusted his body and then unleashed a ferocious drive into Chelsea’s net. The jubilation of going 2-1 up was compounded by the relief that West Ham’s missed opportunities may not come back to haunt them for once.

As Diame ran towards the dugout to celebrate his goal, Modibo Maiga was there waiting to be introduced to the game. He came on for Carlton Cole almost immediately and wrapped up the game for the Hammers shortly afterwards. In injury time, Ashley Cole panicked under pressure from both Diame and Taylor and gifted a square pass to Maiga with only Cahill and Jon Obi Mikel between the striker and the goal. Taylor burst past the Chelsea left-back to make it two vs two and Maiga slipped him in to seal the victory, but again Petr Cech denied West Ham by diving low to block Taylor’s finish. Luckily the rebound fell kindly to Maiga, who made no mistake in converting, side-footing the ball with power into the middle of the goal.

It was the first time West Ham had beaten Chelsea in almost 10 years, and to do it so late on, having been 1-0 down for the majority of the game, and knowing points were absolutely crucial given their tough fixture list, was truly spectacular.

The Hammers had tamed the lion emblazoned on Chelsea’s badge and sent the circus packing back across London.

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