London: Tammy Abraham’s brace helped Chelsea beat West Ham United 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to move up to fifth in the Premier League on Tuesday (December 22). Thiago Silva powered home a header on the 10 minutes and gave the Blues a much-needed lead and a boost of confidence after their back-to-back defeats to Wolves and Everton.
Timo Werner could not capatilise a couple of good chances to add to the hosts’ lead, although his cross-shot found Abraham, who hit the ball past Lukasz Fabianski in the 78th minute. The Chelsea striker, scored his brace two minutes later when he curled home a loose ball after Christian Pulisic missed a simple header from a cross.
The scoreline somewhat deceived the fact West Ham had been the better side for large periods, but the visitors paid the price for a lack of menace in front of the goal as they finished the game without a shot on target.
“We’d dropped off slightly and it was important in this game we came back,” Chelsea coach Frank Lampard said after the victory. “There were loads of things for the team to show their character – we want more.” While talking about Werner’s recent form he said, “That’s the period Timo is in.” This game was the eighth in a row when the German failed to score from easy chances.
“It’s unfortunate but he’s getting in the positions – when one goes in it will be a run for him. Tammy and Oli (Giroud) both bring different things. Tammy did his thing today and that’s what we needed,” Lampard added.
The Hammers had a rare off day in front of the goal, this was just the second game of Premier League, this season, in which David Moyes’ side had failed to score. “It was a harsh scoreline but we were not good enough in our box and we weren’t good enough in their box when we had the opportunities,” Moyes said.
“Any small decisions did not go for us; the flow always went in Chelsea’s favour tonight. The players played really well. This was our biggest test so far this season. For the majority of it, we played very well, but we didn’t do enough where it matters: the boxes.”
