LONDON: Chelsea crashed to a shock 3-2 defeat at West Ham as Arthur Masuaku’s fortuitous late winner capped the Premier League leaders’ second half collapse in a dramatic London derby on Saturday.

Chelsea’s early dominance was rewarded in the 29th minute when Silva met Mason Mount’s corner with a downwards header that Fabianski could only push into the net via the far post.

But their concentration wavered and West Ham were gifted an equaliser five minutes before half-time.

Jorginho played a suicidal backpass that Mendy scrambled to reach before Bowen.

As the Senegal keeper tried to dribble around Bowen, he lost control of the ball and sent the West Ham forward crashing to the turf with a panicked tackle.

It was a comedy of errors and Lanzini delivered the punchline as he drove the penalty into the roof of the net.

Jorginho’s howler came just a week after his woeful control allowed Jadon Sancho to score in the draw with Manchester United.

“We need to admit we did too many crucial mistakes at the moment. That cost us points against Manchester United and today as well,” Tuchel said.

“If you want a result at this level you have to minimise mistakes. We talked about it before, it’s obviously not helped.”

Chelsea’s response was instant as a sweeping move put them back in front four minutes later.

Hakim Ziyech’s majestic long pass picked out Mount, who ran in behind Ben Johnson to caress a sublime volley past Fabianski from just inside the area.

An injury to Havertz on the stroke of half-time meant Romelu Lukaku was introduced after the interval, but the Belgian was anonymous as he makes a slow recovery from an ankle injury.

Heading into the weekend, Chelsea had conceded just six league goals this season -- the lowest amount of any team in the top five European leagues.

But, missing the injured N’Golo Kante as the midfield shield in front of them, there was a lack of cohesion at the back for the Blues and Moyes’ men took advantage to snatch a 56th minute equaliser.

Vladimir Coufal was able to poke a pass to Bowen on the edge of the area as Chelsea fatally backed off and the forward drilled a superb low strike through Andreas Christensen’s legs and into the far corner.

It was the first time Chelsea had conceded more than one goal in a Premier League game since May and there was worse to come in the 87th minute.

When Masuaku took possession and shaped to cross, there seemed little danger for Chelsea, but the defender’s delivery suddenly swerved in mid-air, deceiving Mendy as it arched past the stunned keeper.

“Truthfully, I didn’t think we played that well, but to get those goals against a team that don’t concede many is a great credit to the lads,” Moyes said.

Defeat meant Chelsea could end the weekend as low as third. For David Moyes’ West Ham, it was another impressive win after also beating Liverpool 3-2 at home in the league and eliminating both Manchester clubs from the League Cup. And it ensured the Hammers will remain in fourth place after this weekend.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2021