Chelsea and West Ham ended their match in a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium, with a late penalty controversy causing much debate. In the 88th minute, Conor Gallagher’s shot hit West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek on the hand as he attempted to block it, but the referee waved away Chelsea’s appeals and there was no VAR intervention.
Earlier in the game, Chelsea had a strong start with January signings Enzo Fernandez and Joao Felix combining for Felix’s first goal for the club (16).
However, West Ham quickly regained control and took advantage of Chelsea’s poor defense when Jarrod Bowen set up Emerson to score at the far post (28).
The lack of a penalty call caused a stir, with some feeling that it was a clear handball by Soucek. Chelsea found it difficult to break down their opponents after this and West Ham thought they had won it with Soucek’s close-range goal, but VAR ruled it offside.
The draw leaves Chelsea in 9th place, 9 points behind Newcastle in 4th place, putting more pressure on coach Graham Potter. West Ham remain in 15th place and have now gone four games without a loss in all competitions.
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