Match highlights: Chelsea vs West Ham and more plus Thursday fixtures [Video]

Andriy Yarmolenko rewarded his manager’s faith in him as he stepped off the bench to hit the winner at the London Stadium as the hammers shrugged off VAR controversy to beat Chelsea 3-2 and give their Premier League survival hopes a huge boost.

West Ham was infuriated when Tomas Soucek’s first-half goal was ruled out by VAR. Substitute Yarmolenko made the decisive contribution when the finished off a superb counter-attack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J8kW-oO-KQ

Chelsea and West Ham looked to be settling for a point each but a late drama ensued to provide a win and a huge morale lift to David Moyes’ side, putting them three points clear of the relegation places and also completing a good 24 hours for Manchester United in the race for Champions League places after their win at Brighton, and third-placed Leicester City’s loss at Everton.

Moyes was angry when Soucek saw a first-half goal ruled out because Michail Antonio was adjudged to be offside and in Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga’s line of vision.

Chelsea then fired home through Willian who converted a penalty to secure the lead but battling West Ham leveled through Soucek’s header right on the stroke of half-time.

Mikael Antonio bundled West Ham in front six minutes after the restart but this eventful affair looked to be heading for a draw when Willian whipped in a superb free-kick with 18 minutes left to draw Chelsea level.

And yet, with injury-time looming, West Ham broke and the tireless Antonio set up Yarmolenko for a crisp finish that gave Moyes’ men what could be a priceless three points.

Stats and facts from the match

• West Ham ended a 20-game losing run when conceding the first goal in Premier League fixtures. This is the first time they avoided defeat after conceding first in the competition since February 2019 – a 3-1 win over Fulham.
• Only West Ham (22) and Aston Villa (19) have dropped more points from leading positions in this season’s Premier League than Chelsea (18).
• This was Chelsea’s 10th Premier League defeat of the season.  Only in 2015-16, when they finished 10th, have they suffered more in a single campaign in the Roman Abramovich era (12).
• Chelsea’s Willian became the first player in Premier League history to score in all 12 calendar months in the competition.

Leicester City defeated at Goodison Park as they fight to secure Champions League spot

Leicester’s hopes of finishing in the Premier League top four positions took yet another hit as they lost 2-1 to Everton on Wednesday night, despite a fierce second-half fightback from the Foxes.

Richarlison struck from close range and Gylfi Sigurdsson doubled the advantage courtesy of a debatable penalty, awarded following a lengthy VAR review for handball against Wilfred Ndidi.

Leicester City rallied and pulled one back at the start of the second half as Mason Holgate’s attempted clearance flew into the net off the face of substitute Kelechi Iheanacho.

 

Newcastle ran riot against relegation-threatened Bournemouth

Bournemouth’s Premier League survival hopes were dealt another blow as Newcastle ran circles around them with an exciting performance at the Vitality Stadium.

Dwight Gayle profited off a Jefferson Lerma’s mistake to punish the home side giving Newcastle an early lead and Sean Longstaff made it 2-0 within half an hour.

Bournemouth then hit the woodwork twice in the second half but could not recover once Miguel Almiron netted a third for Newcastle.

Substitute Valentino Lazaro made it 4-0 after he was slipped in by Jonjo Shelvey to complete a disastrous evening for the Cherries.

Dan Gosling bundled in a consolation in stoppage time for Bournemouth, who now sit second-from-bottom of the Premier League with six games remaining.

Thursday’s match fixtures

• Sheffield United vs Tottenham Hotspur
• Manchester City vs Liverpool