West Ham vs. Chelsea: Winners and Losers from Premier League London Derby
Jose Mourinho and Nemanja Matic were both sent off as Chelsea lost 2-1 at West Ham United on Saturday in the Premier League.
Mauro Zarate fired the Hammers into a 17th-minute lead as Chelsea failed to deal with a corner defensively. Matic saw red shortly before halftime, with Mourinho also receiving his marching orders during the break.
Despite the dismissals, the Blues pulled level through Gary Cahill 10 minutes into the second half. But substitute Andy Carroll headed in the winner for West Ham 11 minutes from time.
The win took West Ham up to third place with 20 points from 10 matches. Chelsea are 15th with 11 points.
Here, Bleacher Report selects winners and losers from the match.
Winner: Andy Carroll
1 of 6
Mauro Zarate scored a fine opener for West Ham, and Dimitri Payet was his usual effervescent self, but one player will claim most of the headlines for the Hammers. That player is Andy Carroll, the injury-prone striker who came off the bench to score his first goal since January.
Upon entering the match, there was no doubting what Carroll would do. The big Englishman is a classic target man who aims to batter defenses into submission. That's exactly what he did in scoring the winner in the 79th minute, climbing over Cesar Azpilicueta to nod in Aaron Creswell's cross.
According to Opta Joe, nine of Carroll's last 16 Premier League goals have been of the headed variety. If anything, that 56 percentage feels low. Carroll is a menace in the air, and if he could only stay healthy, he'd be a consistently potent weapon for West Ham.
"It's impossible to mark him in the box," manager Slaven Bilic told BBC Sport. "His quality was never in question. If he's in good shape now we have a good chance that he will be injury-free for a long time. In that case, West Ham and England will benefit from that a lot."
Loser: Jose Mourinho
2 of 6
Assessing Chelsea this season has been a difficult proposition. One look at the club's star-studded roster confirms that the Blues have loads of talent throughout the squad. Yet Saturday's loss was the team's fifth in 10 Premier League games, and for Jose Mourinho's men, the title defense must already feel finished.
Perhaps that was one factor behind the loss of composure on display from both Mourinho and the players on Saturday. When Nemanja Matic saw red late in the first half, the Blues had just seen a goal ruled out for offside in a tight (and probably incorrect) decision.
Referee Jonathan Moss quickly sent off Chelsea assistant Silvino Louro, presumably for dissent, and Mourinho also received his marching orders at halftime. The latter might have been a calculated move on Mourinho's part, possibly an attempt to motivate his players to perform better in the second half.
But if Mourinho tried to enter the referees' area at halftime, as reported by Sky (h/t Fox Sports), then that's over the line. Mourinho must act professionally and must respect such boundaries.
Chelsea improved considerably in the second half, briefly drawing level through Gary Cahill's outstanding finish. Curiously, Mourinho didn't flinch when the goal flew in, casting a miserable figure while the rest of the onlookers around him celebrated happily.
Something has been wrong with Chelsea all season. On Saturday, the sense of unease came to a head.
"Not many words are being said at the moment," Cahill told the Premier League website. "I’m sure we’ll reflect in next day or so. We worked really hard at 10 men and had the majority of the play in the second half. It’s a summary of our season at the minute."
Winner: Goal-Line Technology
3 of 6
Chelsea had a right to gripe in one instance. Shortly before Nemanja Matic's dismissal, the linesman ruled out a Cesc Fabregas goal in a tight decision that appeared incorrect. Earlier in the first half, however, none could seriously argue that referee Jonathan Moss was right not to award the visitors a goal in another tight decision.
Kurt Zouma created the danger, directing a Fabregas corner on target. West Ham's Manuel Lanzini nearly turned the ball into his own net but managed to clear at the last moment—as confirmed by goal-line technology.
Both clubs remarked about how close the ball came to crossing the line, without actually doing so.
"Replays show Zouma's header was literally a couple of millimetres away from crossing the line," tweeted Chelsea.
"They have just shown a replay and the ball was literally 19/20 over the line! Amazing. I've never seen one so close!" added West Ham.
The best part about goal-line technology is that it took away any potential controversy. The ball didn't cross the line and thus Chelsea did not score a goal. Replays proved it definitively, though Chelsea's official website later tried to argue otherwise.
Loser: Nemanja Matic
4 of 6
Nemanja Matic really could have had no complaints. The Serbian midfielder drew two bookings against West Ham, both of which were deserved.
Only the most partisan Chelsea supporter would disagree. Matic had to go.
And his dismissal put a serious damper on the Blues' ambitions. He must play more smartly.
Winner: West Ham's Record Against the Big Sides
5 of 6
Before Saturday, West Ham had beaten Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, with each victory coming away from Upton Park. Now add Chelsea to the list, with this win representing the first major scalp on home soil.
Manager Slaven Bilic has coaxed the best from his squad, and the Hammers fully deserve their lofty place in the table. For at least another day, West Ham are in third place.
"We all thought we could beat them today. It wasn't about Chelsea, it was about us," striker Andy Carroll told BBC Sport. "We've had some great wins this season and hopefully we'll carry on. The way we're going, we've got a right shot at it [a high finish]. I don't see why not."
Loser: Chelsea's Mini-Revival
6 of 6
Chelsea had kept back-to-back clean sheets coming into Saturday's match, giving the Blues some hope that they had turned the proverbial corner following a poor start to the season. West Ham scored twice, effectively making that look like nothing more than wishful thinking.
According to Opta Joe, Chelsea have conceded the opening goal in five of 10 Premier League matches this season. That happened eight times in 38 games last term. And as Squawka noted, only three teams have conceded more than Chelsea's 18 goals.
Perhaps most critically, the Blues have failed to come from behind to win this season. With so many questions continuing to dog the defense, that's hardly a recipe for success.
At ESPN FC, Iain Macintosh wrote:
"Mourinho cannot argue his way out of this one. There can be no talk of conspiracies, no talk of campaigns. That would be weak and naive. This is a collection of excellent footballers led by an excellent manager, but they are playing mediocre football and they are being deservedly beaten. They have won only a single game in their past six. Owner Roman Abramovich has swung his axe for far less than this in the past and for all the public votes of confidence, it is not unthinkable that he will do so again.
"
It's hard to imagine Mourinho losing his job, even when you consider that Roman Abramovich is his boss. But at this point, would any of us be surprised?
