Chelsea complete Confident Take-Down of West Ham with Ruthless Second-Half Win
A meeting between East and West London rivals at the Chigwell Construction Stadium certainly promised to be an exciting matchup, with both West Ham and Chelsea wishing to seize the opportunity to gain valuable points before the international break.
One team certainly delivered on that promise, and after a slow first half with a goal gifted to them by a West Ham mistake, Chelsea pulled out all the stops after half-time to gain a decisive 3-0 victory. All three of Chelsea’s shots on target were converted, with goals from Malard, Walsh, and Hamano. Chelsea complete their fourth successive win in the WSL, leaving them unbeaten so far; they haven’t conceded a single goal in their last six games across all competitions.
West Ham left the game in a very different situation however, after not getting a single shot, compared with Chelsea’s 21, and a mistake from a free kick costing them greatly in the first half. Guarino’s side have only one win in the WSL so far this season, and today’s showing certainly leaves a lot for the Hammers to think about.
Starting XIs:
West Ham United: Constance Picaud-Inconnu (GK), Laia Codina, Oona Siren, Inés Belloumou, Saki Kumagai, Katie Zelem ©, Kelly Gago, Viviane Asseyi, Nadine Riesen, Estelle Cascarino, Seraina Piubel
Substitutes: Megan Walsh (GK), Rebekah Dowsett (GK), Yu Endo, Ylinn Tennebo, Sienna Wareing, Ffion Morgan, Niamh Peacock, Leila Wandeler
Chelsea: Hannah Hampton (GK), Ellie Carpenter, Veerle Buurman, Sjoeke Nüsken, Melvine Malard, Sandy Baltimore, Wieke Kaptein, Keira Walsh, Lucy Bronze ©, Maika Hamano, Kadeisha Buchanan
Substitutes: Livia Peng (GK), Erin Cuthbert, Lauren James, Alyssa Thompson, Nathalie Björn, Katie McCabe, Giulia Dragoni, Lexi Potter, Aggie Beever-Jones
A Slow First Half
Chelsea started to press forward in no time, with their first corner awarded in the first minute of the game, which was cleared by the Hammer’s captain Katie Zelem. West Ham struggled to get the ball out of the box, as Chelsea continued their possessive dominance in the opposing half. The Hammer’s first real attempt to push came after an excellent recovery by Asseyi, however the ball ended up being carried too far, and went back to Hannah Hampton for a goal kick.
The first big chance of the game for Chelsea came in the fifth minute, with Malard sending the ball across the box to Carpenter, but when it came to Nüsken’s feet, an unfortunate pass laid it straight off to Codina. Moments later, it was Nüsken again in front of the goal, who was played quite far forward in this game for the midfielder, but her strike ended up sailing just over the crossbar. Hamano shot just wide in the seventh minute, as an onslaught of Chelsea attack continued, but so did a struggle to convert early on the game. West Ham were defending well, with key blocks from Codina and Piubel stopping Chelsea from successfully capitalising on their chances.
Another Chelsea corner was given in the 16th minute, after a brief period of counter-attack by West Ham, however it was punched away by Constance Picaud, as Chelsea’s wave of attack continued to fail to manifest itself successfully. The pace of the game seemed to be starting to slow, as West Ham seemed to grow into it, maintaining steady periods of possession, but still not getting quite up the pitch to threaten Hampton’s goal.
Chelsea earnt themselves yet another corner in the 25th minute, taken short again by Baltimore to Kaptein, almost earning Walsh a go, but the path of the ball was blocked and Chelsea had to continue searching for their first. A dangerous run from Riesen was then stopped in its tracks by Chelsea’s Veerle Buurman, but the Hammers certainly seemed to be pushing more now, as Asseyi continued to win them possession and create opportunities in key moments.
Carpenter nearly broke through the deadlock with a low attempt in the 30th minute, but a block meant another Chelsea corner, leading to a booking for Wieke Kaptein as she kicked the ball at the advertising boards in frustration after Asseyi managed to clear the ball for a goal kick with ease. Both sides indeed looked rather stunted with no shots on target yet, and Chelsea especially struggling to keep a clinical edge despite their dominance in possession and apparent control of the game’s direction.
Finally, Chelsea broke through in the 38th minute. Nüsken capitalised on West Ham’s mistake in their free kick, getting the ball to Malard after an initial blocked shot, who made no mistake in getting it low into the goal to sneak it past Picaud and make the hole in West Ham’s backline count. The first shot on target for either team in the game was gifted by sloppy defending from the Hammers, who had been resolute previously, but unfortunately for them it was successfully converted by Chelsea’s number nine.
Mallard came close again in the 42nd minute, with a strong shot ending up just over the goal, and Chelsea showing their hunger for more before half-time. A free kick from Baltimore almost fed this hunger, but Picaud managed to collect it to stop the Blues from getting any further ahead.
Half time: West Ham United 0-1 Chelsea
The Blues Dominate with Clinical Second Half
Lexi Potter was substituted on for Sjoeke Nüsken at half-time, with the young Chelsea midfielder earning her first senior England call up earlier on in the week and Bompastor certainly wanting to use the dynamic midfield duo that has been come to fruition with her and fellow Lioness Keira Walsh.
Kelly Gago almost helped West Ham equalise early on into the second half, making an excellent run, but unfortunately for the Hammers the ball was overshot, and ended up in yet another goal kick for Hampton. They regained possession quickly however, with Oona Siren making an excellent recovery to keep their momentum, before Carpenter and Potter worked to get the ball off them. The ball was quickly in front of West Ham’s goal again and Chelsea back on the counter, before Codina earnt a clever free kick when stopping Kaptein’s run down the left wing. This almost led West Ham to their first goal, but Asseyi’s excellent pass to Riesen in the box ended up in Hannah Hampton’s hands after some difficult positioning by their attackers.
West Ham managed to stay cool in the defending half when continued efforts by Chelsea threatened to dispossess them, with Cascarino stopping a dangerous pass ending up by Malard’s feet right in front of the goal in the 54th minute. West Ham then continued successfully making recoveries and getting down the pitch, but were wasteful with their chances and did not convert any of them into shots on goal.
Wieke Kaptein put in a real shift on the wing, but her runs were often leading to a set of confusing passing in the box. In the 64th minute therefore, Baltimore and Malard were substituted off for Thompson and Beever-Jones, as a sense of urgency came for Chelsea to try and secure their lead with some fresh legs. This change was so nearly rewarded when an excellent run from Beever Jones was passed to Keira Walsh, who hit in the post in an agonisingly close attempt in the 66th minute. Walsh had another go again after a corner, but her shot from a difficult angle landed just wide.
Kelly Gago was then substituted for Leila Wandeler, and Belloumou earnt her side a free kick, which was headed away by Bronze before going down after a nasty collision with Siren. She was back up quickly though, in true Lucy Bronze fashion, taking a throw-in for Chelsea after West Ham failed again to get that bit closer to the goal. Chelsea started to pick up their pace again after a rather slower second half for the Blues, and a stunning pass from Keira Walsh took the ball right down to West Ham’s goal after a run from Beever-Jones, but Picaud managed to collect the ball before it threatened her goal.
A free kick for Chelsea was almost kicked in by Kadeisha Buchanan, but the Chelsea defender collided with Picaud, who kept her goal safe once more. Buchanan came off a few minutes later, after eventually subsiding to the pain of the collision, and was replaced by Katie McCabe in the 77th minute, as Buurman moved into the centre of the backline alongside Lucy Bronze.
Chelsea eventually managed to capitalise on their attacking potency once more, with an excellent set of work from Weike Kaptein into the feet of Keira Walsh around the penalty area earning Walsh's second attempt a goal to put her team 2-0 up. It seemed only a matter of time until Walsh and Kaptein’s graft would end up on the scoresheet, and it finally did in the 80th minute. West Ham responded with a substitution, with Piubel off for Tennebo, but Chelsea made no pretence at taking their feet off the pedal. After Buurman was taken off for Bjorn in the 85th minute, Chelsea scored yet again, with Maika Hamano heading the ball in from right in front of the goal after a great ball from Thompson, as suddenly their lead became incredibly confident in the 88th minute.
West Ham continued to put all their effort in however by substituting Endo in place of Cascarino, and Picaud making an incredible save after a McCabe free kick almost put the Blues up even more after a confident and ruthless second half. Four minutes of added time was announced, but West Ham didn’t seem to see the goal at all in this time, as Chelsea truly proved their position as the best side of the match and kept any hope of clawing one back firmly dead.
Despite West Ham having some promise at moments throughout the game, the intensity and desire to win shown by Chelsea in the second-half of the game was simply too much for the Hammers, who face yet another loss in the league.
Full time: West Ham United 3-0 Chelsea
Rita Guarino’s Post-Match Reaction:
When asked about her feelings on West Ham’s performance, Gaurino admitted the disappointment felt by her side:
“The feeling is that we play a tough game, so obviously disappointed for the result, but we know that we try to do our best, especially in the first half. Then we concede the goal, a bad goal from our mistakes in a free-kick, then it could be hard to come back.”
However, there were some positives for Guarino, as when asked about her team’s mostly resolute defence in the game, she was full of praise for the entire squad in that regard:
“When you defend, defend with the whole team, so I’m very happy that every single player tried to be compact and resilient, but we need to be for the entire game and not just for a part of the game.”