If the future looks bright for Chelsea the present reality is that they still lack conviction in both boxes. They dominated long stretches of this game, played the smoother football and still fell to their first defeat under Mauricio Pochettino. West Ham had too much nous, even after being reduced to 10 men midway through the second half, and would charge to a deserved win after punishing Chelsea’s errors at both ends of the pitch.
The narrative belonged to Lucas Paquetá, whose move to Manchester City fell apart after news of a Football Association investigation over potential betting breaches emerged late last week. West Ham’s No 10 grew in influence as the contest progressed, making a mockery of fears that he would not be in a mental state to play, and he sealed it when he scored from the spot in added time. That the penalty had been given away by Moisés Caicedo, Chelsea’s new £115m midfielder, only added to Pochettino’s misery.
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