Christian Pulisic’s last-minute goal secured an English Premier League 1-0 win over West Ham on Sunday despite Chelsea’s lacklustre display.
Christian Pulisic’s last-minute goal secured an English Premier League 1-0 win over West Ham on Sunday despite Chelsea’s lacklustre display at Stamford Bridge.
Thomas Tuchel’s team had lost their previous two home matches in the league, and that poor form looked set to continue when Jorginho’s 87th-minute penalty kick was saved.
Yet West Ham had been reduced to 10 men when Craig Dawson fouled Romelu Lukaku for that penalty kick, and Chelsea made their numerical advantage count in the final minute.
Pulisic was the hero, slotting in from Marcos Alonso’s cross to get Chelsea back to winning ways in front of their own fans.
A sluggish start from Chelsea allowed a much-changed West Ham to grow into proceedings, though neither side managed a shot on target in a drab first half.
Chelsea finally sparked into life shortly after the restart.
Timo Werner saw a goalbound strike blocked brilliantly by Dawson after excellent work from Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Another fine Dawson block kept a Mason Mount shot out, with Werner only able to slice into the side netting on the rebound.
Werner seemed set to break the deadlock with 16 minutes remaining, yet the Germany forward failed to generate enough power to beat Lukasz Fabianski from close range.
Chelsea’s luck appeared to have changed when Dawson dragged down substitute Lukaku in the penalty area.
Referee Michael Oliver —— after consulting the monitor —— sent the defender off for denying a goalscoring opportunity. Jorginho’s awful penalty kick straight at Fabianski looked to have let West Ham off the hook, but Pulisic swept home three minutes later to snatch victory.
(dpa/NAN)
