Chelsea fought back from 3-0 down to earn a point at West Brom and make up for a first-half defensive horror show at the Hawthorns.
A plethora of errors left Chelsea 3-0 down at half-time.
Callum Robinson opened the scoring with a low drive into the far corner from 15 yards in the fourth minute.
Tammy Abraham missed a glorious chance to equalise and Timo Werner hit the crossbar afterwards before Robinson made it 2-0 in favour of West Bromwich Albion.
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Kyle Bartley turned home from a corner at the far post following some woeful Chelsea marking to make it 3-0, but Chelsea improved in the second half as Mason Mount’s long-range strike and substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi’s fine finish to make it 3-2 and on the brink of a special comeback.
The comeback was complete in the third minute of stoppage time as Abraham capitalised to tap home after Sam Johnstone had parried Mount’s low effort.
Neither side seemed happy at full-time following another high-scoring Premier League thriller.
Watch the match highlights below
https://youtu.be/tTNmmnN9bdA
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Frank Lampard having seen how Chelsea was vulnerable in goal opted for Caballero over Kepa Arrizabalaga, with new signing Edouard Mendy not yet available, while defender Silva made his Premier League debut and was made captain.
Silva’s leadership qualities earned him the armband, Lampard explained.
But Chelsea were all over the place in the first half and West Brom capitalised fully to score three after their sloppy defending.
Alonso was at fault for the first, Silva’s miscontrol allowed Robinson to pounce for the baggies second while the third may have enraged Lampard the most.
Pereira’s driven corner looked straight off the training ground as Darnell Furlong dropped deep to flick on, and his header found Bartley at the far post to turn home, completely unmarked and onside.
James was guilty of giving too much space to Bartley on that occasion.
Lampard however made two changes at the break bringing on Cesar Azpilicueta for Alonso and Callum Hudson-Odoi for Mateo Kovacic alas it triggered some hope for Chelsea as Mount fired a fine strike into the bottom left corner from 25 yards as Chelsea mounted a comeback.
Chelsea piled more pressure from then on and got their second with a fine team goal as Hudson-Odoi slotted low into the far corner following a neat one-two with Havertz inside the box.
The pressure told late on as Chelsea finally got their equaliser to salvage a point as Abraham pounced on Mason Mount’s parried shot for the third goal.
There was a big shout from West Brom for handball by Havertz in the build-up, but because the German didn’t make the immediate assist, the goal wasn’t ruled out.
Stats and fact from the match (Backed by Opta)
- Since the start of last season, Chelsea have conceded more away Premier League goals than any other team (42).
- Chelsea have conceded 3+ goals in successive Premier League away games against newly-promoted sides for the first time since March 1997 (v Sunderland and Derby).
- Chelsea have failed to keep a clean sheet in 20 of their 21 Premier League away games under Frank Lampard.
- Chelsea defender Thiago Silva is the first outfield player to make an error leading to a goal on their Premier League debut since Issa Diop for West Ham versus Arsenal (August 2018).
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