Chelsea 3-2 West Ham: Fernandez completes history-making comeback at the Bridge | OneFootball

Chelsea made history by coming back from two down at the break for the first time at Stamford Bridge to beat West Ham 3-2 in a Premier League classic.

Jarrod Bowen’s cross-turned-shot and Crycensio Summerville scoring in a third consecutive league game stunned the home crowd, after a dismal first-half showing from the Blues.

But half-time substitutes Joao Pedro and Marc Cucurella hauled their team level, before Enzo Fernandez found a winner in stoppage time to leave the Hammers four points adrift of fourth-bottom Nottingham Forest, who face Crystal Palace tomorrow.

As it happened

The visitors enjoyed less than a fifth of the possession early on but used it to great effect when Bowen’s cross from the right curled all the way in past Robert Sánchez.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s bold run down the right created the space on the inside for the winger, with Pablo flinging his foot at the inswinger enough to put off the Chelsea goalkeeper.

Chelsea struggled to respond to the early set back, and would’ve been two down had Sánchez not have parried Taty Castellanos’ powerful strike at his near post.

A speculative free kick from Cole Palmer was his side’s only shot on target come the half-hour mark, who made few inroads into the away side’s penalty area.

But the Hammers galloped forward with purpose once more, and deservedly doubled their lead when Summerville smashed home the low cross from the excellent Wan-Bissaka.

The right-back had utterly decimated Chelsea’s left flank with skipper Bowen ahead of him, and had two assists in an electrifying first-half performance.

Bowen and Summerville were enjoying themselves as half-time approached, superbly backheeling a one-two between one another deep in their own half which set the latter away to earn a corner.

Boos were ringing around Stamford Bridge as the five minutes of stoppage time were up, with Joao Pedro and Marc Cucurella booted up to try and rescue the game.

Wesley Fofana was the third substitute to be introduced before the restart, unsurprisingly replacing the entirety of Chelsea’s left side.

But they were unable to stop Wan-Bissaka racing down the right once more, as his side worked it to Mateus Fernandes 25 yards out and saw the strike well-saved by Sánchez.

Chelsea had to wait just over 10 minutes for their first sight of goal in the second half, as Cucurella’s low cross was glanced wide by Liam Delap.

But they were given a lifeline as Fofana found space on the ball inside the right channel and lifted a perfectly weighted cross into Pedro, who headed back across Areola and into the net.

Continuing their assault on the West Ham goal past 60 minutes, Areola had to pull off a brilliant save to tip over Moises Caicedo’s strike from distance that seemed destined for the top left corner.

Cucurella then became the second of Rosenior’s super subs, diving low to head in the equalizer after Max Kilman diverted Malo Gusto’s header back across goal back off of the crossbar.

With just four minutes of regular time left, Jean-Claire Todibo had the chance to snatch back the lead for West Ham from a corner, but turned a near-point blank range shot wide via the post.

Palmer saw a loose ball drop to him inside the box following Gusto’s first-time cutback on the volley, but the effort was well-blocked by Mavropanos inside the box.

Caicedo, having gone close to a stunner earlier, had time in a central position and smartly rolled the ball into Pedro.

The Brazilian striker squared it for an unmarked Fernandez, who slotted home a well-placed effort to seize all three points in dramatic fashion.

A near-brawl then erupted in Chelsea’s left back position as tempers boiled over deep into added time, with VAR investigating centre-back Todibo for violent conduct.

Anthony Taylor inspected replays on the pitch-side monitor, before dismissing Todibo for grabbing the throat of Pedro in a violent manner.

It was heart break for West Ham, who arguably played their best football all season and yet left the Bridge empty handed in their battle to escape the bottom three.

Chelsea analysis: Rosenior knows his best team

It was a first half to forget for Liam Rosenior, having not been in the role of first team head coach for the longest time. It was one that forced him into drastic action with three half-time changes, halving already used up one on the injured Jamie Gittens.

Wesley Fofana was involved in Joao Pedro’s strike to halve the deficit, before Cucurella’s leveler that was promptly followed up with Enzo Fernandez’s winner – the opportunity put on a silver platter for the Argentine by Pedro.

Chelsea demonstrated fight and determination, but also the dynamism that at times was lacking in attack under Enzo Maresca – particularly when games weren’t going their way.

Rosenior showed his tactical prowess in bringing on all of the right people, and will be delighted with his side’s history-making comeback.

West Ham analysis: West Ham a carbon copy of Nuno’s Forest in the first half

Last September, Nuno Espirito Santo inherited a West Ham side without a clear tactical direction – but their first half performance tonight suggested the complete opposite.

It’s taken a fair while and some new signings that the former Nottingham Forest manager didn’t have at his disposal, but his Hammers in many ways resembled his former team back in their highly impressive 2024/25 campaign.

Much like that Forest side, West Ham were well-organized into a compact 4-4-2 shape while out of possession, expertly managing the spaces in behind, then using the widths to catch Chelsea out of shape on the counter-attack.

Crycensio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen are very clearly playing the roles of Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga, using their pace and goal-scoring threat to full advantage, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka proved as dynamic a presence down the right as Ola Aina often did.

In fact, 56% of their attacks in the first half came down their right wing alone and they had two goals to show for it, while Chelsea simply had no way through in the first half.

While they’ll be disappointed to walk away with nothing, West Ham will be in good standing if they repeat their first-half performance against weaker sides.