Chelsea Drop Points At West Ham

By Danny Ward

Chelsea's perfect start to the 2018/19 Premier League has ended as the Blues dropped points for the first time this season with a barren draw at West Ham on Sunday.

Chelsea went into the game with a 100 percent record, having beaten Huddersfield Town, Arsenal, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Cardiff City 

But, their spark went missing at the West Ham Stadium on match day-six as their fellow Londoners kept them at bay with a well-rehearsed defensive football.

Eden Hazard shot feebly at Lukasz Fabianski in the 7th minute, Mateo Kovacic latched onto a rebound inside the box in the 26th minute but saw his shot blocked, before Michail Antonio missed the upright narrowly in the 29th minute.

Antonio picked on a rebound inside the penalty area after Andriy Yarmolenko was dispossessed off the ball, and released a shot towards the bottom right corner which Kepa Arrizabalaga saved with a dive.

Hazard was denied a penalty on the stroke of halftime when he appeared to have been cut inside the box by Antonio.

N'Golo Kante headed wide from close range in the 41st minute as Chelsea closed the first half with 71 percent of ball possession and 407 completed passes as against West Ham's 162.

Maurizio Sarri's men kept to their passing and mode to penetrate the hosts through the middle as the Hammers also stood firm in defence and depended on counter breaks.

Yarmolenko nearly broke the deadlock in the 51st minute with a ferocious shot which hit the upright before bouncing to safety.

Substitute, Alvaro Morata, forced a save from Fabianski in the 77th minute, N'Golo Kante headed into the goalkeeper's hands two minutes later as Gary Cahill replaced the injured Antonio Rudiger.

Felipe Anderson replaced Robert Snodgrass in the 73rd minute, Andriy Yarmolenko shot wide in the 86th minute before Willian condemned Chelsea to a draw by missing the target from close range.