Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea returned to the top four in the Premier League after coming from behind to beat West Ham on former manager Graham Potter’s return to Stamford Bridge.
After fellow top-four contenders Manchester City and Newcastle lost at the weekend, the Blues were made to work hard for the three points by the visitors who led through Jarrod Bowen at the break.
But substitute Pedro Neto equalised for Enzo Maresca’s side in the second half before Cole Palmer’s cross looped over Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, which took a big deflection off Aaron Wan-Bissaka to gift the win to the home side.
Bowen, who was out of action since fracturing his foot in a defeat by Liverpool on 29 December, pounced on a misplaced backpass from centre-back Levi Colwill before finishing past Filip Jorgensen to pull Potter’s side ahead in the closing stages of the first half.
Maresca brought on Neto and Marc Guiu early in the second half to turn things around, and it was the former who helped his side find a way back.
Marc Cucurella did well to keep Neto’s deep cross in play for Enzo Fernandez to strike at goal, and the Argentine’s shot was blocked by Vladimir Coufal, only for the Portugal winger to restore parity on the rebound.
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Chelsea were much improved after finding the equaliser and an unfortunate intervention from Wan-Bissaka secured the victory for the hosts 10 minutes later.
The result helps Chelsea climb to fourth with 43 points – two more than Manchester City and Newcastle – while Potter’s side remain 15th with 27 points.
Maresca hails Blues’ ‘important statement’
Chelsea and Maresca came into this London derby in desperate need of a win, having slipped from second place to sixth in the space of six weeks with just six points from their past seven games.
But with Manchester City crumbling to a 5-1 defeat at Arsenal and Newcastle losing 2-1 at home to Fulham, the Blues made the opportunity count and underlined their top-four credentials with a solid second-half fightback.
“We are there and hopefully we can be there until the end. Playing this kind of game in February, where we are still there is an important statement,” Maresca said.
“It was a good weekend for us in terms of [other] results and we knew today was even better.”
The Italian handed goalkeeping duties to Filip Jorgensen in place of Robert Sanchez, who was at fault for Erling Haaland’s goal at Etihad Stadium last week.
“In this moment, Robert needs rest and Filip was very good,” the Chelsea boss said, explaining the reasoning behind his selection.
But it was Colwill’s individual error that led to them conceding this time.