Chelsea 2-1 West Ham: Blues come from behind to beat Hammers and go fourth in Premier League

Chelsea came from behind to defeat West Ham United at Stamford Bridge, returning to the top four of the Premier League. This match also marked the return of former manager Graham Potter to Stamford Bridge. After other top-four contenders Manchester City and Newcastle both lost this weekend, the Blues fought hard for these three points. West Ham took the lead in the first half with a goal from Jarrod Bowen.

In the second half, substitute Pedro Neto equalized for Enzo Maresca's side. Subsequently, a cross from Cole Palmer deflected off Aaron Wan-Bissaka and into the net, ultimately securing the victory for the home side. Bowen, making his first appearance since fracturing his foot in the game against Liverpool on December 29th, capitalized on a poor back pass from center-back Levi Colwill to beat Philip Jörgensen and put Potter's team ahead near the end of the first half.

Maresca made early second-half substitutions, bringing on Neto and Marc Guiu to try and turn the tide. It was Neto who helped the team find a way back into the game. Marc Cucurella successfully kept Neto's deep pass in play, Enzo Fernandez's shot was blocked by Vladimir Coufal, and then the Portuguese winger slotted home the rebound to level the score. Chelsea's performance improved significantly after equalizing, and Wan-Bissaka's unfortunate intervention helped the home side secure the win 10 minutes later.

The victory lifts Chelsea to fourth place with 43 points, two points ahead of Manchester City and Newcastle, while Potter's side sit in 15th place with 27 points. Maresca hailed the Blues' victory as "an important statement." Chelsea and Maresca were in desperate need of a win to boost morale after falling from second to sixth place in six weeks, gaining only six points in their last seven games. But with Manchester City suffering a 1-5 thrashing against Arsenal and Newcastle losing 1-2 at home to Fulham, the Blues seized their opportunity, with a solid second-half comeback highlighting their top-four credentials.

"We are in the top four now, hopefully we can stay there until the end. To play this type of game in February, and we are still there, it’s an important statement," Maresca said. "In terms of the (other) results, it was a good weekend for us, we knew today was going to be better." The Italian coach replaced Robert Sanchez with Philip Jörgensen in goal, after the former was deemed responsible for Erling Haaland's goal in last week's match against Manchester City. "At the moment, Robert needs a rest and Philip did very well," the Chelsea manager explained his choice. However, it was Colwill's individual error that led to their goal being conceded this time.

This means that Chelsea have now made five errors leading to goals in their last six league games, with only bottom-placed Southampton (17) and Aston Villa (11) having made more errors this season than Chelsea (10). With the away side well-organized defensively, Chelsea's best chance of the first half came from a quick counter-attack, with Noni Madueke shooting wide of the far post after being played through by Nicolas Jackson. Enzo Fernandez and Jadon Sancho also shot wide after Madueke cut the ball back inside the box, before West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola made a brilliant fingertip save to deny Palmer's free-kick late in the game. However, the early second-half substitutions revitalized Chelsea, with Neto coming off the bench to deliver a cross that caused chaos in the West Ham box before being turned home to level the score in the 64th minute.

Palmer then helped Chelsea take the lead with a bit of luck, and the home side held on to their slender advantage to secure a victory that could prove vital in their quest for Champions League qualification. Potter's return to Chelsea did not go as he would have hoped. Potter was appointed in 2022 to lead a new era under Chelsea's new owners, but lasted only seven months, losing 11 of his 31 games in charge. Returning to Stamford Bridge as an opposing coach, Potter said this week that his sacking by Chelsea was possibly "the best thing" for him, and he would have hoped for a happier night. But West Ham's valiant performance was not enough to salvage a point on Monday. "I thought the performance was very good, lots of good aspects. I thought we were tactically smart," Potter said after the game.

Potter was without the influential Lucas Paqueta, who suffered a groin injury in the 1-1 draw with Aston Villa, but was encouraged by the return of captain Bowen, making his first appearance of 2025. West Ham had the better of the first half, with Bowen forcing Jörgensen into a save before capitalizing on Colwill's mistake to open the scoring, while Chelsea struggled to create chances at the other end. Potter will also feel aggrieved that West Ham thought Colwill had fouled Bowen in the build-up to Chelsea's equalizer, but referee Stuart Attwell waved play on. Then, Neto's goal was allowed to stand after a lengthy Video Assistant Referee (VAR) check to see if Cucurella was offside in the build-up.

"We felt the first goal was a little bit unfortunate - we thought there might have been a foul in the build-up to it. Sometimes you need those things to go your way and it didn't," the former Brighton manager said. Kudus also headed against the post, although he was offside, before Chelsea forced the error that eventually won them the game. "We could have nicked a point from Mo, and I thought we deserved that," Potter added. West Ham face Brentford and Arsenal in their next two games, and Potter will hope his West Ham side can take confidence from their fighting display at Stamford Bridge.