Chelsea 2-2 West Ham: Five Talking Points

West Ham failed to capitalize on their dominance by letting away late goals at the end of both halves as Chelsea have kept Guus Hiddink's Premier League unbeaten record alive. Yes, we are saying that for Chelsea vs West Ham at Stamford Bridge, and this was how the match was predicted to go down pregame.Starting the game 2 points behind Manchester City, West Ham came into game with the chance of entering the top four and started as the better team. They soon took the lead, Manuel Lanzini taking advantage of some shoddy advantage to work himself in a position to take a shot, and then curling a spectacular 25-yarder around Courtois.After that, the game settled down, with Chelsea failing to threaten while West Ham crafted one or two opportunities. However, on the cusp of halftime, Cesc Fabregas equalized with a majestic free kick.Chelsea started the second half poorly, and soon Dimitri Payet took advantage of more lacklustre defending by threading a brilliant reverse ball to a wide open Andy Carroll, who shot straight at Courtois but the Belgian keeper made a poor attempt at a saveable shot.West Ham were 2-1 up at Stamford Bridge and despite some chances from Chelsea, looked the better side who would extend their advantage. However, Ruben Loftus-Cheek raced clear in the dying stages before being tripped by Antonio. The referee then gave a very debatable penalty. Fabregas equalized from the spot much to the delight of the Chelsea faithful.

#1 West Ham miss chance to win

While Leicester City’s rise has been well-documented, West Ham have had arguably just an incredible a season when you take into account the injuries that plagued the side mid-season. Coming into this game on the back of a draw at Old Trafford, West Ham were arguably the favourites as Chelsea have little left to play for.

However, if they are to pull off what seemed an impossible initially, then they will have to win games like this.

Apart from the two goals, Aaron Cresswell twice came very close to adding goals to the game with his overlapping runs. Antonio, Payet and Lanzini were up to their best in the game as well, routinely finding room in the middle and crafting opportunities. Indeed, after Carroll’s goal towards the end it was West Ham who appeared likelier to score the third than Chelsea getting an equalizer.

However, the fact that Loftus-Cheek was in behind the defence at the 89th minute when West Ham are holding onto an away lead was criminal and while they may blame the officials, this should have not happened in the first place. West Ham cannot afford more results like this with the two Manchester clubs and a resurgent Liverpool in close proximity and challenging for the sole Champions League spot.