I was going to say, we wren’t expecting that were we? But actually, in the back of our heads, I think a few of us were. There’s a natural cynicism when it comes to being a West Ham fan, but that is being slowly replaced by a sense of optimism that Slaven Bilic’s tenure thus far has supplanted us with.
Chelsea are a very interesting team and i was very intrigued to see them in the flesh. There were passages of quality possession play, especially at the start of the second half when we could not get the ball. But there was an utter lack of penetration. I was expecting Costa to be the panto villain for this game but actually he was pretty quiet and didn’t really get an opportunity to moan too much. Very different from the Drogba days when you feared as he got the ball and felt he was going to easily beat three of your players and slot it home. I just didn’t feel overly threatened by Chelsea today.
As for the Hammers, wow, just a great, strong disciplined performance. Let’s break it down into rankings…
Adrian – 6 – not much chance for the goal, apart from that wasn’t hugely called into action
Cresswell – 7 – showing improvement after a shaky start to the season, lovely assit for the winner
Collins – 7 – just the bloke you want with you in the bunker, quality
Tomkins – 7 – growing as a player every week, great show
Jenkinson – 7 – like Cress, getting better with each week
Noble – 7 – forever running and inspiring
Kouyate – 8 – one of his best performances in a Hammers shirt
Payet – 7 – not his best game for us but the quality did shine through a few times
Lanzini – 8 – love this little lad, lovely passing and penetration
Zarate – 8 – beautifully taken goal and good contribution
Sakho – 6 – quiet for me and I thought he would be the one to come off for Carroll.
Big Andy was great when he came on and his header was a cracking one. What an option to have from the bench, he has a huge impact. I wonder if he will replace Sakho in the starting stakes if he continues to have such an impact for 20 minutes.
A quick shout out to the referee as well. Chelsea fans may well sayI would say this, but i thought he was excellent. Not intimidated by their players and din’t fall for tricks from either side. He was fair and consistent and it was good to see.
A fantastic day’s entertainment, can’t wait for match of the Day to relive it! A few pics…