Well thanks to the organised and efficient police security plans the spectators from Chelsea and West Ham entered London Stadium safely but then endured violent clashes with missiles thrown at each sets of fans by the other from their segregated areas. The Police did manage to restore order by the end of the match but Slaven Bilic was unhappy with the incidents. Chelsea started the game slowly after Antonio Conte decided on making seven changes from the team that hammered Manchester United on the weekend. The most notable inclusions were the return of Captain John Terry in defence, Belgian starlet Michy Batshuayi in the striking role and Oscar in midfield. Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Victor Moses and Pedro were the most notable absentee starters.
The change of personnel seemed to effect Chelsea as they struggled to impose themselves on the game and paid the price after 10 minutes when David Luiz gave a corner away. From the resulting play, long-standing West Ham midfielder Mark Noble supplied the assist as midfielder Cheikhou Kouyaté found himself unmarked in the Chelsea box and scored with a good header from the centre of the box beating goalie Asmir Begovic as it sailed into the bottom right corner on 11 minutes.
As the half progressed it really was West Ham by far creating more of the chances but lacking the quality to convert any of them. Chelsea briefly threatened on 21 minutes when Nathaniel Chalobah fired a right footed drive from well outside the penalty area but it was comfortably saved by Darren Randolph. As the half progressed Chelsea became more and more of a threat with Michy Batshuayi looking the most dangerous and he had a couple of decent looks at goal. Just before the half-time whistle Oscar went very close to levelling the match but dragged his shot just wide of the post so Chelsea went into the dressing room 1-0 down after 2 minutes of added time being played.
The second half started and quickly Willian was denied as his shot from outside the box was easily blocked to safety. West Ham responded and Dimitri Payet had his shot saved from going into the corner of the Chelsea net. Then within seconds West Ham seized possession and Swiss international attacking midfielder Edimilson Fernandes fired a left footed screamer from outside the box which ended up in the bottom left corner of Begovic’s goal. Chelsea were suddenly 2-0 down and Conte did not look happy.
On 54 minutes Antonio Conte had obviously seen enough and sent League leading scorer Diego Costa on to replace the young Belgian Michy Batshuayi hoping the bustling striker could change the tone of the game. Conte again turned to his bench as Eden Hazard replaced Nathaniel Chalobah on 63 minutes with Chelsea still unable to break the West Ham resistance. Mark Noble picked up a yellow card as West Ham tried to slow the Chelsea onslaught and Conte made his final move on 67 minutes as he sent on Sunday’s hero Pedro to replace Ola Aina.
Chelsea almost scored as Oscar went close with a right footed attempt but ultimately narrowly missed to the left and Willian had a decent shot from the edge of the box but could not find the target. On 76 minutes Winston Reid received a yellow card for West Ham as he battled to keep Diego Costa quiet. After putting Sofiane Feghouli on to replace Edimilson Fernandes earlier in the half, Slaven Bilic would have been delighted to send on the fit again striker Andre Ayew as a substitute to replace Manuel Lanzini on 78 minutes for West Ham. Chelsea continued to press and won 2 corners after Diego Costa had a shot blocked as the game moved into the last 10 minutes.
Hazard went close for Chelsea before West Ham made their final change on 82 minutes as they sent Simone Zaza on to replace Michail Antonio. Andre Ayew almost marked his return with a goal but his header just missed. Costa was doing all he could for Chelsea but seemed out of luck. As the referee’s assistant showed there were 5 extra minutes to be played the Blues pushed forward and were rewarded with a goal as Gary Cahill scored from very close range into the bottom right corner of West Ham’s goal. With a minute left there was only a goal in it but Chelsea could not pull off a miracle as West Ham won 2-1 and move on to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup. Sadly the violence in the stadium will probably dominate the headlines rather than the football as it should be.