Premier League roundup: Cesc Fabregas double saves Chelsea as West Ham impress away from home again
A Cesc Fabregas double brought back Chelsea twice as West Ham scored two vital goals through Manuel Lanzini and Andy Carroll in a game filled with bookings and incidents at Stamford Bridge.
West Ham began the first half on the front foot constantly challenging Thibaut Courtois but the Belgian stood up for every one of their plays while John Terry and Gary Cahill looked as shaky at the back as Chelsea have been all season. Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta bombarded forward when needed but couldn't do much to see Lanzini's effort go in.
The Argentine received the ball at the edge of the box after Dimitri Payet's control had the ball stumble through multiple players. The former River Plate man collected it, moved it on to his right foot and fired one into the top corner giving the Hammers a deserved lead in front of a packed Stamford Bridge audience.
With the goal in hand, the Hammers began to really assert themselves in the match winning second balls and making all the right runs off the ball until a foul nearly 25 yards away from goal at the stroke of half time. The referee gave it immediately but as he set the defensive line, replays showed Fabregas and Willian moving the ball a few yards giving them an unfair advantage to loop it over the line.
Fabregas stood and shot past a diving Adrian to equal it as both the head into the break. That incident would go on to set up the emotions and the attitude of the game come the second half.
As Chelsea began the second half, West Ham looked to play a little safer sitting deep. While Payet and Lanzini danced with the ball through Chelsea's lines, John Obi Mikel had an outstanding game shielding his back four as much as possible given Fabregas slipped forward too often but even he was caught off his guard when Payet slipped a wonderfully weighted pass to release Carroll who cooly slotted past Courtois to make it 2-1.
A series of fouls and silly arguments between Fabregas and the West Ham squad would try the referee throughout the game until eventually he pointed to the penalty spot after Michail Antonio brought down a charging Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Fabregas spotted and scored to level it for Chelsea.
Both the teams went into the added time with the motivation to get one over the other but the game ended 2-2 after both sides failed to slot past the keepers. With this draw, Chelsea stay in 10th while West Ham climb above Manchester United into 5th.
Leicester City put in incredible shift to maintain lead over North London duo
It's not a fairytale anymore, Leicester are proving time and again that what they're doing is a lot more than just luck. Their top two players in Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez combined to ensure the Foxes went 8 points clear of Tottenham with a crucial 1-0 victory over Londoners Crystal Palace.
Come the 33rd minutes, Vardy collects the ball inside the box, dribbles past a defender and fires it across the goal to Mahrez who collects and calmly fired past Alex McCarthy. While they dominated and deserved the game, they should've gotten another when Robert Huth was almost stripped of his shirt by Scott Dann in the penalty box. The referee waved away the appeals but replays showed a clear tug and almost removal of the jersey from the big German.
Next up for Leicester – after the international break – is a home game against Southampton.
Other scores:
Watford 1 – 2 Stoke City
West Brom 0 – 1 Norwich City