Premier League make announcement about huge West Ham v Chelsea incident
The Premier League was forced into an announcement mid-way through the first half of West Ham’s London derby against Chelsea.
West Ham were searching for a reaction from their dismal 3-0 defeat at Sunderland, and the Hammers got off the perfect start thanks to a Lucas Paqueta strike.
Chelsea, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Crystal Palace last time out, responded quickly when Joao Pedro headed home from close-range.
The Blues, who lost Cole Palmer in the warm-up, thought they were only level for two minutes when Niclas Fullkrug fired home a low shot past Robert Sanchez.
Premier League clarify VAR intervention
Fullkrug’s goal though was disallowed for an offside in the build-up.
Todibo received Paqueta’s pass inside the penalty area in an offside position before he found Fullkrug at the back post to finish off the move.
The Premier League released a statement shortly after the goal was disallowed in the stadium explaining that VAR overturned the awarding of the goal for Todibo being in an offside position.
Chelsea punished the Hammers with a Pedro Neto goal just six minutes later to put them ahead in the match.
Enzo Fernandez then benefited from good work from Estevao to extend the visitors’ leader further.
Chelsea cruised to victory in the second period, with further goals added by Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah.
Fullkrug ‘goal’ turning point of match
Football Insider Verdict
West Ham had got off to the perfect start when Paqueta struck after just six minutes at the London Stadium.
The Hammers’ defensive vulnerabilities though, were exposed again when a simple Marc Cucurella’s flick-on at the front post from a corner found Pedro to net his first Premier League goal.
There was a good reaction though from the hosts to the equaliser and if Todibo could have timed his run to greater effect then West Ham would have gone 2-1 up.
| Stats | West Ham | Chelsea |
| Possession | 35% | 65% |
| Shots | 5 | 5 |
| Shots on Target | 3 | 4 |
It was a cracking finish from inside the penalty from Fullkrug, who when provided with service can be a real handful for defences.
The decision to disallow the goal though deflated West Ham and when Chelsea went ahead through Neto, the visitors cruised through to half-time.
West Ham’s lack of fight when the third goal went in will concern Potter, whose side was met with some boos when the half-time whistle blew.
The second half did not improve for the hosts as Potter must act in the transfer market to address the shortfalls in his squad.