West Ham player ratings vs Chelsea FC: Tomas Soucek and Lukasz Fabianski impress but Hammers fall short

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Chelsea took charge of the race for the Champions League places with a narrow 1-0 win over London rivals West Ham.

The Hammers have shipped far too many goals for their liking in recent weeks and seemed determined to tighten up, packing the box and frustrating Chelsea early on.

Timo Werner had a number of chances but, with little space, caused no trouble for most of the first half.

Having kept things relatively quiet, the hosts grew in confidence and had a spell of their own, only to see it result in Chelsea taking the lead. The Blues moved forward with Werner holding off Angelo Ogbonna before feeding Christian Pulisic.

The American played in Chilwell who found Werner with a pin-point low cross leaving the forward with a tap even he could not miss for a sixth Premier League goal of the season.

West Ham came out stronger but could not find a leveller, prompting Moyes to send on Said Benrahma and Manuel Lanzini.

The Hammers picked up the pace but were undone by a daft VAR decision when Fabian Balbuena was sent off.

After his clanger at Newcastle the Pole responded fantastically here. Nothing he could have done about the goal but produced a string of fine saves in the second half.

Vladimir Coufal 6

Caught out by Chilwell a couple of times and needs to be more decisive in the final third.

Fabian Balbuena 6

Solid display at the back, sent off for a ridiculous red card.

Angelo Ogbonna 6

Should have done more to deal with Werner in the build up to the goal but other than that a good performance.

Issa Diop 6

Continues to do well having been recalled into the side thanks to injuries.

Ryan Fredericks 6

Caused problems with his pace going forward but left Issa Diop exposed at the back.

Mark Noble 6

Improved after the break and tried to drive the side forward, but the game largely passed the West Ham captain by.

One of his best performances for a few weeks. Stepped up and controlled midfield in the second half. Missing Rice alongside him still.

Pablo Fornals 6

Plenty of energy and effort as always but couldn’t get things going well enough in the final third.

Jesse Lingard 6

Couldn’t have his usual influence over the game with West Ham playing too deep.

Jarrod Bowen 6

Made all the right runs but hardly ever found and really struggles to bring others into play.

Substitutes

Said Benrahma n/a

Manuel Lanzini n/a

Ben Johnson n/a

Subs not used: Yarmolenko, Alves, Trott, Randolph, Odubeko, Coventry

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