Chelsea Stage Comeback To Defeat West Ham 2-1

Chelsea staged a stirring fightback to ruin Graham Potter’s return to Stamford Bridge and climb to fourth place in the Premier League with a 2-1 win against West Ham on Monday.

Hammers boss Potter was hoping for a victory over the club that sacked him in 2023 after just seven months in charge.

Jarrod Bowen gave West Ham the lead in the first half on his return to action after fracturing his foot in late December.

But Chelsea recovered from a listless start to equalise through Pedro Neto after the interval before Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s late own goal shattered Potter’s revenge mission.

Chelsea moved two points above Manchester City and Newcastle in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League via a top-four finish.

It was the first time they had taken three points in a home league game after trailing at half-time since 2013.

Chelsea’s second win in eight league matches was a welcome boost for Enzo Maresca after the Blues boss complained that the transfer window was distracting his players.

Joao Felix had been linked with AC Milan and Axel Disasi drew interest from Aston Villa, while Ben Chilwell emerged as a Crystal Palace target and Borussia Dortmund eyed Carney Chukwuemeka.

Maresca will have been relieved to see Chelsea finally ignore the speculation on the day the January window closed.

Potter insisted being axed by Chelsea after winning just 12 of his 31 games could be “the best thing that happens to me”.

The 49-year-old returned to management last month at West Ham and almost two years on from his Chelsea dismissal, he made his first return to the Bridge.

But there was no happy ending for Potter as Maresca beat his former West Brom team-mate.

West Ham have won once in five games in all competitions since Potter took charge, but sit 10 points clear of the relegation zone.

Potter was tasked with driving Maresca to training every day during their time together in the 1990s and once again he was played second fiddle to the Italian.

Maresca had dropped Robert Sanchez and brought in Filip Jorgensen after the Spanish goalkeeper’s latest costly error in the defeat at Manchester City last weekend.