West Ham 3-1 Chelsea: Players ratings as James Ward-Prowse and Moises Caicedo enjoy mixed debuts
East faced West in this afternoon’s London derby with West Ham entertaining Chelsea on matchday two.
Both sides were chasing their first Premier League win of the season after drawing their respective games last time out.
Mauricio Pochettino will need to wait for that first success as Chelsea boss as the Hammers (despite ending with ten men), inspired by their marquee summer acquisition James Ward-Prowse, ran out 3-1 winners.
Ward-Prowse assisted Nayef Aguerd, who ended up seeing red, and Michail Antonio before the much-talked-about Lucas Paquetá slotted home from 12 yards. He could do what Enzo Fernández was unable to with the injured Carney Chukwuemeka netting Chelsea’s consolation goal.
As the dust begins to settle here are our player ratings:
West Ham
Alphonse Areola – 6 – Continues to keep Lukasz Fabianski away from West Ham’s starting line. His case got a lot stronger after denying an Enzo Fernández penalty.
Emerson – 5 – The former Chelsea man was clearly up for this game with his aggressive display; booked, committed two fouls, completed one of his three attempted tackles, and won a penalty.
Nayef Aguerd – 4 – Rose like a salmon to nod home James Ward-Prowse’s peach of a corner delivery. Subsequent reckless fouls on Sterling and Jackson would spell an early bath for the Moroccan defender. “It is a stupid error,” said ex-England goalkeeper Paul Robinson on BBC Sport coverage following the Jackson incident that led to red. “He’s completely mistimed that.”
The first West Ham player to both score and be sent off in a Premier League game since Mark Noble against Liverpool in August 2015.
Kurt Zouma – 4.5 – Eyebrows were raised with news of him captaining West Ham this season. Zouma was lackadaisical in his passing and never looked to be in control whenever Chelsea burst forward.
Vladimír Coufal – 5 – Enjoyed the rearguard responsibilities once West Ham went down to 10 men.
James Ward-Prowse – 9 – Has all the makings of a transformative signing. His set-piece deliveries are second to none and West Ham didn’t have to wait long. Since his Premier League debut in August 2012, he’s registered 25 assists from set plays in the competition, with only Christian Eriksen (29) providing more in this period. He would later on become the first player to assist two goals on his Premier League debut for West Ham.
Tomás Soucek – 7 – Produced a daft challenge on Sterling which gave Chelsea an opportunity to go ahead from 12 yards on the stroke of halftime. Aside from that momentary lapse in concentration, the Czech international made a nuisance of himself in the midfield battle.
Saïd Benrahma – 5 – Had three shots on goal, most by a West Ham player, but he never really troubled Robert Sánchez.
Lucas Paquetá – 6 – Picked up a yellow for dissent after Sterling picked his pocket. Probably the last thing he needed today. Ended the game jubilantly after converting a 96th-minute penalty.
Jarrod Bowen – 5 – Had one real shot in a game that seemingly passed him by.
Michail Antonio – 6 – The definition of maximising his minutes. Antonio had five touches before half-time (finishing with 17 overall). He restored West Ham’s lead having barely featured beforehand.
Substitutes:
Angelo Ogbonna (for Benrahma 77) – N/A – A late sub.
Pablo Fornals (for Antonio 77) – N/A – A late sub.
Edson Álvarez (for Ward-Prowse 81) – N/A – A late sub.
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Chelsea
Robert Sánchez – 6 – Had to pick the ball out of his goal before Chelsea got going, but there was nothing he could have done to stop Antonio’s effort from long-range.
Levi Colwill – 5 – The much-thought-about defender was relatively quiet though he did pop up with a goalscoring opportunity.
Thiago Silva – 5.5 – A calming presence in Chelsea’s backline. Silva won five of his six aerial duels.
Axel Disasi – 4.5 – Retained his spot in Mauricio Pochettino’s starting lineup, but this was a more testing occasion for the young Frenchman, who ended today’s game with a yellow card.
Ben Chilwell – 6.5 – Effectively stationed in West Ham’s final third. The flying Chelsea wing-back on another day would have a goal or assist to his name.
Conor Gallagher – 4 – Bullied in the air by Nayef Aguerd who put the hosts in front. “For Chelsea, it’s a bit of a mess. Gallagher at the back post was a mismatch,” came Jamie Carragher’s immediate response on Sky Sports commentary.
Enzo Fernández – 5.5 – Another stellar display in Chelsea’s midfield, no one in Blue created more chances (four), but the performance was marred by a tepid penalty kick.
Malo Gusto – 5 – In for the injured Reece James but not exactly like-for-like as Gusto put in a far more conservative performance. He crucially kept Antontio onside for West Ham’s second goal.
Carney Chukwuemeka – 7 – Produced a brilliant piece of individual skill to level proceedings. “This is absolutely sensational,” Carragher began on Sky Sports commentary. “Fast feet and bang! Lots of bodies in front of him, you think he had nowhere to go, but before you know it, it was in the back of the net.” His game, unfortunately, came to a premature end when he came off with a serious injury before halftime.
Raheem Sterling – 8 – Followed up his encouraging performance against Liverpool with another electric showing down Chelsea’s right flank. He ultimately won five fouls in this game, more than any other player on either team. Furthermore, the Londoner won 24 penalties in the Premier League, the outright most of any player in the competition’s history.
Nicolas Jackson – 7 – The livelier of Chelsea’s forward players as he continuously looked to get behind West Ham’s backline.
Substitutes:
Mykhailo Mudryk (for Chukwuemeka 46) – 4 – Came on for the injured Chukwuemeka with a point to prove but was unable to change the tide.
Moises Caicedo (for Chilwell 60) – 3.5 – Truthfully not enough time for him to show what he could do in this Chelsea midfield though foolishly conceded a penalty in the dying seconds. In doing so, he became just the second player to give away a penalty on his Premier League debut for Chelsea, after Wayne Bridge vs Liverpool in August 2003.
Noni Madueke (for Gallagher 75) – N/A – A late sub.
Mason Burstow (for Gusto 83) – N/A – A late sub.
