Ten-man West Ham recorded a thrilling 3-1 win over rivals Chelsea to leave Mauricio Pochettino still waiting for his first victory in charge of the west London club.
Nayef Aguerd nodded West Ham into a seventh-minute lead, taking advantage of some non-existent Chelsea marking to head home debutant James Ward-Prowse’s inch-perfect corner kick, before Carney Chukwuemeka – later subbed with a knee injury – levelled with a delicious strike, the 19-year-old’s first in the Premier League.
In fact, the Blues – who resisted the temptation to hand Moises Caicedo his debut after his recent British-record transfer from Brighton – really should have gone in ahead at the break, only for Enzo Fernandez to see his poorly struck penalty saved by Alphonse Areola on the stroke of half-time.
That proved key as against the run of play, Michail Antonio slammed the hosts back in front eight minutes after half-time and despite Aguerd then seeing red midway through the second half after a second yellow, the Hammers held on for a rousing win, sealed by Lucas Pacqeta’s stoppage-time penalty after a foul by Caicedo on Emerson.
Paqueta started for West Ham, with Manchester City’s move for the midfielde
West Ham, who handed a late debut to Edson Alvarez, move up to sixth in the table after their first win of the new campaign, while Chelsea are 15th and still looking for their first three points of the season.
How West Ham beat Blues in feisty London derby
This was West Ham’s first game at the London Stadium since they were crowned Europa Conference League winners in May and they received a rousing reception from the home fans ahead of kick-off, with the stadium soon rocking when debutant Ward-Prowse set up a goal on a plate for Aguerd.
Ward-Prowse was brought to West Ham in part because of his impressive dead-ball deliveries and he lived up to his reputation when taking his first corner for his new club by landing the ball straight onto the head of their Morocco defender, who made no mistake with a towering header at the far post.
However, Pochettino would have been wondering just how the West Ham centre-back was afforded so much space in a crowded penalty area, although those concerns did not last long with the visitors soon back in the contest.
Chelsea had already seen strong claims for a penalty when Nicolas Jackson was wiped out in the box by Areola, only for the Video Assistant Referee to judge the Chelsea striker as inches offside in the build-up.
A Blues equaliser was coming, though, and it duly arrived just before the half-hour mark from one of the 28 players to have been signed since Todd Boehly’s arrival, although one who commanded a slightly lower transfer fee than the British record that bought Caicedo to Stamford Bridge this week.
There appeared little danger when Chukwuemeka gained possession down the left side of West Ham’s area, but from an acute angle, the England U20 international – signed from Aston Villa last August for £20m – curled home his first Premier League goal.
The Blues should have gone in ahead at the break after Raheem Sterling went over the dangling leg offered by Tomas Soucek, but Enzo Fernandes saw his weakly-struck penalty saved by Areola, before being cleared by the Czech Republic midfielder, who appeared subsequently to have just been inside the area when the spot-kick was taken.
Pochettino suffered more injury woe when his young goalscorer was forced off at half-time with a knee injury and the interval appeared to galvanise the hosts more than their opponents, with Antonio – supplied by Ward-Prowse – soon restoring their lead with a thumping finish.
That goal prompted Pochettino to bring on Caicedo for his Blues debut, only for Aguerd to set up a tense finale after chopping down Jackson to leave referee John Brooks with no alternative but to send him off with a quarter of the game still to play.
And when Caicedo brought down Emerson late on, the Brazil midfielder rolled home a 95th-minute penalty to seal the win.
