Alphonse Areola impresses, Said Benrahma struggles – West Ham United player ratings v Chelsea
West Ham continued their unbeaten start to the new Premier League season as they beat Chelsea 3-1 at the London Stadium on Sunday (20 August).
The Hammers began the match in superb fashion, with defender Nayef Aguerd heading home a James Ward-Prowse corner in the seventh minute. Chelsea, however, fired back in the 28th minute thanks to a superb strike from Carney Chukwuemeka.
Enzo Fernandez then saw a penalty kept out from West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola in the 43rd minute, with Michail Antonio firing the Hammers ahead eight minutes after the break.
The hosts finished the match with 10 men as Aguerd was shown a second yellow card in the 67th minute, but managed to take all three points as Lucas Paqueta netted a late penalty.
West Ham Zone rated the players out of 10 below…
Alphonse Areola – 9 (Man of the Match)
Continued between the sticks as Lukasz Fabianski watched on from the bench, with the former making three saves (SofaScore) to help his side, but it was, of course, his penalty stop from Fernandez that proved most significant. The goalkeeper also made three high claims, two punches and one successful run out.
Vladimir Coufal – 4
Was given a tough time trying to stop the pace and direct running of Chukwuemeka and later Mykhailo Mudryk, with the right-back winning just three of his eight duels at the London Stadium.
Kurt Zouma – 6
Often struggled on what was always going to be a tough afternoon against his former club, with the centre-back winning just one of his three aerial duels.
Nayef Aguerd – 7
Rose highest from a Ward-Prowse corner to head home perfectly past Robert Sanchez, with the defender opening his goals account for the new season. But he also opened his red card account for the season with two yellow cards, resulting in his dismissal with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Emerson – 8
The Italian was given a tricky time by Chelsea ace Raheem Sterling, who was a constant threat with his speed and dribbling, but Emerson often came out on top, winning seven of his 10 duels. The defender also got forward well, winning his side a late penalty.
Tomas Soucek – 7
Battled it out against a talented Chelsea midfield, but was sloppy to concede a penalty just before half-time with a silly challenge on Raheem Sterling. The midfielder did, however, make three key passes.
James Ward-Prowse – 8
As expected, the set-piece specialist was deadly from corners throughout the match, causing the Chelsea defence all sorts of problems. One such corner produced an assist for Aguerd after just seven minutes, while he also assisted the second goal for Antonio with a delicate chipped through ball.
Jarrod Bowen – 5
The winger was the star man last time out with his superb goal against Bournemouth on the opening day, but he wasn’t quite at his best against the Blues, where he had just 27 touches of the ball.
Lucas Paqueta – 6
May have been distracted by recent events concerning his life both on and off the pitch, with the Brazilian not like himself at all as he made little impact at the London Stadium, where he was dribbled past five times, more than any other player. He did, however, come alive late on, helping win the late penalty before tucking it away.
Said Benrahma – 4
Was unsuccessful going forward as both Malo Gusto and Axel Disasi often doubled up on the Hammers winger, who won just three of his 10 duels.
Michail Antonio – 7
The striker chipped in with his usual hard work in the final third, often cutting a lonely figure as the visitors dominated possession, but produced an unstoppable strike to give the Hammers the lead.
Substitutes
Angelo Ogbonna (on for Benrahma, 69′) – N/A
Pablo Fornals (on for Antonio, 76′) – N/A
Edson Alvarez (on for Ward-Prowse, 81′) – N/A
In other West Ham news, Alan Pardew has shared a “surprised” verdict on a “brilliant” new Hammers player live on talkSPORT.