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West Ham United 3-2 Chelsea: Bizarre Arthur Masuaku goal earns Hammers three points

By Matthew HowarthBBC Sport
Arthur Masuaka
Masuaka's goal was his first this season

Arthur Masuaku said he was as surprised as everyone else when his misdirected late cross beat Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy to earn West Ham victory over the Premier League leaders in a pulsating encounter at London Stadium.

After collecting the ball wide on the left with three minutes remaining, Masuaku's attempted delivery took Mendy by surprise and flew in at the near post to spark jubilant scenes among Hammers supporters.

The win consolidated West Ham's place in the top four and means they have now beaten Chelsea and Liverpool, two of the three teams above them this season.

"So, was it a cross or was it shot?" Masuaku said on Twitter. "(Hint: I was as surprised as you)."

"I said to him I thought it was a great cross," West Ham manager David Moyes joked of the defender's first Premier League goal.

"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 3-2 Chelsea: David Moyes credits "brilliant" finish from Arthur Masuaku

Thiago Silva broke the deadlock for Chelsea in the first half, heading Mason Mount's corner past Lukasz Fabianski via the inside of the post.

West Ham equalised when Mendy brought down Jarrod Bowen following a poor backpass from Jorginho, allowing Manuel Lanzini to stroke home from the penalty spot.

Chelsea regained their advantage in spectacular fashion, Mount sending a superb side-footed volley into the corner from Hakim Ziyech's low cross for his second goal in two games.

Bowen's low drive from the edge of the area restored parity once more before Masuaku's remarkable late winner.

The defeat means Chelsea drop to third after Liverpool beat Wolves and Manchester City won at Watford.

"This is a goal that OK, happens," said Blues boss Thomas Tuchel. "There are no mistakes, just a freak goal - the problem is that it is the winner.

"Overall we did too many individual mistakes. If you do this for three consecutive games you cannot expect always to get a result.

"The schedule we play and effort we play, sometimes you feel tired, but you just need to accept it and control our risk management.

"We hate to lose and we have to digest it now. It is not a performance to be mad about, but in detail we need to be better again.

"If we won the game nobody would have given us the title and if we lose it I don't think anybody else gets it this weekend."

West Ham 3-2 Chelsea: Thomas Tuchel says Blues made 'too many mistakes'

West Ham punish sloppy Chelsea

After saying Chelsea lacked "the right attitude" in their narrow victory at Watford on Wednesday, Tuchel will be bitterly disappointed at the manner in which they relinquished their grip on proceedings on Saturday.

They appeared in total control after Thiago's goal, only for Jorginho and Mendy to gift West Ham a route back into the game.

Mendy had enough time to clear the danger after beating Bowen to Jorginho's backpass, but he opted to take a touch before scything down the former Hull winger.

Mount's fabulous first-time strike put the Blues back in the driving seat shortly before half-time. The England midfielder, who delivered another impressive showing, has now been directly involved in eight goals in his past six league games.

Chelsea started the second period on the front foot too, but West Ham remained a threat on the counter and struck when Bowen was given time and space to get his shot away despite Thiago and Andreas Christensen being in close proximity.

There appeared little danger when full-back Masuaku - a first-half substitute for the injured Ben Johnson - collected the ball near the sideline, but he somehow managed to beat Mendy with a powerful drive to inflict a first away league defeat of the season on Chelsea.

Hammers tactics pay dividends

The win ended West Ham's run of three league games without a win since their magnificent 3-2 victory over Liverpool before the international break.

Operating with a back three of Craig Dawson, Moussa Diop and Kurt Zouma, West Ham soaked up Chelsea's pressure before attempting to strike on the counter.

The impressive Bowen almost made it 3-2 moments before Masuaku's winner when he failed to steer Michail Antonio's low cross on target.

West Ham are now only six points behind Chelsea in the table and four ahead of Arsenal, who face Everton at Goodison Park on Monday.

Player of the match

BowenJarrod Bowen

with an average of 8.57

West Ham United

  1. Squad number20Player nameBowen
    Average rating

    8.57

  2. Squad number41Player nameRice
    Average rating

    8.14

  3. Squad number26Player nameMasuaku
    Average rating

    7.96

  4. Squad number10Player nameLanzini
    Average rating

    7.96

  5. Squad number28Player nameSoucek
    Average rating

    7.71

  6. Squad number9Player nameAntonio
    Average rating

    7.64

  7. Squad number5Player nameCoufal
    Average rating

    7.61

  8. Squad number4Player nameZouma
    Average rating

    7.52

  9. Squad number8Player nameFornals
    Average rating

    7.45

  10. Squad number22Player nameBenrahma
    Average rating

    7.44

  11. Squad number23Player nameDiop
    Average rating

    7.40

  12. Squad number15Player nameDawson
    Average rating

    7.31

  13. Squad number31Player nameJohnson
    Average rating

    7.23

  14. Squad number1Player nameFabianski
    Average rating

    7.15

Chelsea

  1. Squad number19Player nameMount
    Average rating

    6.12

  2. Squad number6Player nameThiago Silva
    Average rating

    5.32

  3. Squad number24Player nameJames
    Average rating

    4.91

  4. Squad number2Player nameRüdiger
    Average rating

    4.85

  5. Squad number12Player nameLoftus-Cheek
    Average rating

    4.72

  6. Squad number29Player nameHavertz
    Average rating

    4.63

  7. Squad number22Player nameZiyech
    Average rating

    4.49

  8. Squad number4Player nameChristensen
    Average rating

    4.33

  9. Squad number3Player nameAlonso
    Average rating

    3.96

  10. Squad number20Player nameHudson-Odoi
    Average rating

    3.91

  11. Squad number5Player nameJorginho
    Average rating

    3.70

  12. Squad number16Player nameMendy
    Average rating

    3.63

  13. Squad number10Player namePulisic
    Average rating

    3.62

  14. Squad number9Player nameLukaku
    Average rating

    3.50

Line-ups

West Ham

Formation 3-4-2-1

  • 1Fabianski
  • 15Dawson
  • 4ZoumaSubstituted forFornalsat 71'minutes
  • 23Diop
  • 5CoufalBooked at 90mins
  • 28Soucek
  • 41Rice
  • 31JohnsonSubstituted forMasuakuat 45+2'minutes
  • 20Bowen
  • 10LanziniSubstituted forBenrahmaat 85'minutes
  • 9Antonio

Substitutes

  • 7Yarmolenko
  • 8Fornals
  • 11Vlasic
  • 13Areola
  • 16Noble
  • 22Benrahma
  • 26Masuaku
  • 33Král
  • 50Ashby

Chelsea

Formation 3-4-2-1

  • 16Mendy
  • 4ChristensenBooked at 90mins
  • 6Thiago Silva
  • 2Rüdiger
  • 24JamesBooked at 90mins
  • 12Loftus-Cheek
  • 5JorginhoBooked at 23mins
  • 3AlonsoSubstituted forPulisicat 72'minutes
  • 22ZiyechSubstituted forHudson-Odoiat 64'minutes
  • 19Mount
  • 29HavertzSubstituted forLukakuat 45'minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Arrizabalaga
  • 9Lukaku
  • 10Pulisic
  • 11Werner
  • 17Saúl
  • 18Barkley
  • 20Hudson-Odoi
  • 28Azpilicueta
  • 31Sarr
Referee:
Andre Marriner
Attendance:
59,942

Match Stats

Home TeamWest HamAway TeamChelsea
Possession
Home36%
Away64%
Shots
Home11
Away19
Shots on Target
Home5
Away7
Corners
Home1
Away9
Fouls
Home10
Away10

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, West Ham United 3, Chelsea 2.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, West Ham United 3, Chelsea 2.

  3. Booking

    Andreas Christensen (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  4. Post update

    Foul by Andreas Christensen (Chelsea).

  5. Post update

    Michail Antonio (West Ham United) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  6. Post update

    Attempt missed. Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Mason Mount with a cross.

  7. Booking

    Reece James (Chelsea) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  8. Post update

    Foul by Reece James (Chelsea).

  9. Post update

    Tomas Soucek (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  10. Booking

    Vladimir Coufal (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  11. Post update

    Callum Hudson-Odoi (Chelsea) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  12. Post update

    Foul by Vladimir Coufal (West Ham United).

  13. Post update

    Foul by Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea).

  14. Post update

    Saïd Benrahma (West Ham United) wins a free kick on the left wing.

  15. Post update

    Attempt missed. Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is too high. Assisted by Michail Antonio.

  16. Goal!

    Goal! West Ham United 3, Chelsea 2. Arthur Masuaku (West Ham United) left footed shot from a difficult angle and long range on the left to the top left corner. Assisted by Michail Antonio with a headed pass.

  17. Substitution

    Substitution, West Ham United. Saïd Benrahma replaces Manuel Lanzini.

  18. Post update

    Attempt missed. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Antonio Rüdiger with a cross.

  19. Post update

    Attempt blocked. Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Mason Mount with a cross.

  20. Post update

    Corner, Chelsea. Conceded by Issa Diop.

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As It Stood

TeamPWDLFAGDPts
1Man City1511223292335
2Liverpool15104144123234
3Chelsea1510323592633
4West Ham158342819927
5Arsenal147251720-323
6Tottenham137151317-422
7Man Utd146352424021
8Wolves156361213-121
9Brighton154831416-220
10Leicester145452225-319
11Crystal Palace143741920-116
12Brentford144461719-216
13Aston Villa145181923-416
14Southampton153751421-716
15Everton144371724-715
16Leeds143651320-715
17Watford1541102029-913
18Burnley141761421-710
19Newcastle151771730-1310
20Norwich14248828-2010
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