West Ham 1 Chelsea 1

West Ham welcomed back Upson and Noble to the starting line up. Chelsea started the brighter of the two teams and dominated possession in the first 30 minutes. Lampard forced a save from Green in the 7th minute with a 20 yard effort and Ivanovic headed just over from 10 yrds. In the 18th minute Gabbidon was forced off and was replaced by Tomkins.

In the 32nd minute West Ham managed their first shot on goal when Collison shot from the edge of the area and forced a good save from Cech. West Ham managed to get a bit more possession of the ball after the half hour mark but Chelsea still had more efforts on goal. Lampard shot wide from 12 yards in the 38th minute. Three minutes later and Joe Cole also shot wide from 22 yrds. In the 43rd minute a quich freekick caught West Ham napping and Drogba fired into the side netting from wide left.

In the 44th minute Franco played the ball to Collison and Collison drove into the area where he was taken down by A Cole for a penalty. From the spot Diamanti scored, putting the ball in the bottom right corner of the goal with Cech diving the wrong way. Just before the half time whistle Kalou shot wide from four yards.


In the second half West Ham soaked up some early pressure well, only to be undone by the officials. In the 57th minute Upson won the ball off Sturridge in the West Ham area only for the assistant ref to flag for a penalty. Lampard then scored twice from the spot only for the ref to make him retake it twice. Lampard then scored on his third attempt to make it 1-1.

After the equaliser Chelsea probably had more possession but West Ham probably had the better chances. In the 72nd minute Diamanti forced a good save from Cech from a shot from just outside the area.

In the last five minutes of the half West Ham tried hard to get the winner and had the best opportunity of the half when Franco powered a header from 6 yards, which forced another save from Cech.


West Ham looked much better defensively today and in the end it was only poor refereeing that denied them a much needed win.