LONDON: Chelsea recovered to beat their former manager Graham Potter’s side West Ham United 2-1 with a second-half strike from substitute Pedro Neto and an own goal by Aaron Wan-Bissaka lifting them to fourth place in the Premier League on Monday.

The result took Chelsea two points above fifth-placed Manchester City and Newcastle United in sixth and within four points of Nottingham Forest, who are third.

Jarrod Bowen, in his first game back after a month out with a foot fracture, put the Hammers ahead when he pounced on a back pass by defender Levi Colwill three minutes before halftime and fired a left-foot shot past Filip Jorgensen in Chelsea’s goal.

The goal livened up the game after a messy first half, with Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez, Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke and Jadon Sanchez all missing good chances.

West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola ensured West Ham went into the break in the lead when he tipped a spinning Palmer free kick over the bar three minutes after the opener.

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca, criticised recently for failing to make timely substitutions, sent on Neto for Sancho and Marc Guiu for Nicolas Jackson seven minutes into the second half and the hosts looked brighter for the changes.

Portugal winger Neto snatched the 64th-minute equaliser after latching onto a ricocheted shot from teammate Fernandez. After a lengthy VAR check for offside, the goal was given.

Palmer created the winner 10 minutes later, with his cross deflected by Aaron Wan-Bissaka into his own net to the despair of West Ham boss Potter on his return to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea pushed for a third goal with chances for Palmer and Fernandez but West Ham finished strongly and Jorgensen, selected ahead of mistake-prone Robert Sanchez, kept out efforts by Mohammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos in the dying minutes.

“This victory coming from behind was really important for us. We have to be consistent, this is the most important thing,” Neto told Sky Sports.

The result was a disappointment for Potter, who was sacked in April 2023 after failing to find a winning formula following seven months in charge at Chelsea.

The 49-year-old has been at West Ham less than a month with two defeats, a draw and a win in the league so far but Bowen has been encouraged by the team’s progress under Potter.

“Performances have been a lot better since the new manager has come in,” said Bowen. “It’s an exciting time to be coming back into the squad. Good times ahead for us hopefully.”

West Ham, who are 15th on 27 points, have now won one of their last 19 league games at Chelsea, drawing four and losing 14.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2025