Chelsea 2-1 West Ham United

chelsea

Diego Costa netted a dramatic last minute winner for Chelsea to help the west London Club secure a 2-1 victory over West Ham at Stamford Bridge.


The Hammers looked to have salvaged a point after James Collins impressive strike on 77 minutes cancelled out a penalty from Eden Hazard at the start of the second half.


But Costa stole all the headlines for the home side on 89 minutes when he drilled in a low shot from the edge of the box to hand Antonio Conte his first victory as Chelsea manager in the Premier League.


It was harsh luck on Slaven Bilic and his players who showed great determination to come from a goal down and force their way back into the game.


The home side dominated the first half proceedings and could have opened the scoring after 13 minutes when Branislav Ivanovic turned Cheikhou Kouyate inside the box and fired a low shot which produced a fine save from Adrian diving low to his left hand side.


Chelsea had claims for a penalty turned down on 19 minutes after Oscar went down inside the area following a challenge by Winston Reid, but referee Anthony Taylor waved for play to continue.


The home side continued to create the best openings and came close again on the half hour mark when Hazard raced unchallenged into the West Ham penalty box before striking a shot inches past the post.


The Hammers suffered a major injury blow on 32 minutes when club record signing Andre Ayew was forced to leave the field and was replaced by fellow summer signing Gokhan Tore who was making his Premier League debut against his former club.


Adrian came to West Ham's rescue once again on the stroke of half-time when he was in the right place to tip Willian's curling free-kick over the bar.


Bilic would have been hoping for a better response in the second half, but they got off to the worst possible start when Antonio conceded a penalty just sixty seconds after the re-start.


The Hammers full-back brought down Cesar Azpilicueta inside the box and Taylor immediately pointed to the spot.


Hazard fired the spot kick straight down the middle and into the back of the net giving Adrian no chance in the West Ham goal.


Costa was fortunate to escape a red card on 68 minutes following a late challenge on Adrian, especially after he had been booked earlier in the game and it was to prove crucial in the final outcome.


Bilic made his final change when he brought Dimitri Payet into the action and the move paid off as the Hammers drew level on 77 minutes.


Payet's corner fell perfectly to Enner Valencia who saw his shot blocked. The rebound fell to Collins and he made no mistake striking a fierce shot into the corner of the net.


But the Hammers were unable to hold on to a draw and Costa scored the winning goal on 89 minutes.


Nemanja Matic saw his long ball flicked on by substitute Michy Batshuayi into the path of Costa and he fired the ball past Adrian.


Chelsea: Courtois; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Azpilicueta; Kante; Willian (Pedro 80), Matic, Oscar (Batshuayi 85), Hazard (Moses 85); Costa


Subs not used: Begovic, Aina, Fabregas, Loftus-Cheek


Bookings: Kante, Costa, Matic, Azpilicueta, Pedro


West Ham: Adrian; Antonio (Byram 52), Collins, Reid, Masuaku; Nordtveit (Payet 66), Noble, Kouyate; Ayew (Tore 32), Carroll, Valencia


Subs not used: Randolph, Ogbonna, Obiang, Oxford


Bookings: Antonio, Collins


Referee: Anthony Taylor


Attendance: 41,521