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  • Date:2009-04-25
  • Kick-off:15:00
  • Venue:Upton Park
  • Attendance:34749
  • Referee:Dean, M

Live Commentary

90mins

Full-Time: WEST HAM 0-1 CHELSEA.

89mins

Both Lampard and Bosingwa try their luck from distance as the game enters stoppage time.

83mins

Chelsea make their last change of the game with Michael Ballack coming on for Michael Mancienne who limps out of the game.

73mins

Michael Essien is on for Chelsea with Salomon Kalou coming on.

72mins

Frank Lampard is booked after dragging Stanislas down with the West Ham man getting away from him.

71mins

West Ham make their last change of the day with Savio Nsereko coming on for Luis Boa Morte.

70mins

Cech wins the dual between himself and Noble after the West Ham man tried to place the ball into te bottom corner but the Chelsea goalkeeper denies him with a great save.

69mins

West Ham win a PENALTY after a ridiculous challenge from Kalou after pulling down Ilunga who made a great run from the deep before he is dragged to ground.

65mins

Chelsea playing much the better football now, this time Cole gets in on goal and hit a cross come shot which clips the top of the crossbar on it's way into the crowd.

64mins

Lampard again splits the West Ham defence with a ball over the top for Anelka who picks it up inside the penalty area but Green makes a good save to deny him.

60mins

West Ham make their first changes of the game with Kieron Dyer and David Di Michele dragged off to be replaced by Radoslav Kovac and Freddie Sears.

59mins

Neill goes close to getting West Ham back on level terms after he lobbed the ball back over Cech looking to catch the goalkeeper off his line but it just drifts over the bar and onto the roof of the net.

58mins

Chelsea make their first change of the game with Ashley Cole coming on for Jose Bosingwa.

55mins

WEST HAM 0-1 CHELSEA. Chelsea finally make their dominance count after Lampard springs the offside trap, his cross was palmed away by Green with KALOU first to the rebound.

50mins

Chelsea are again denied by some brave defending by West Ham after Lampard's shot is blocked by Ilunga and Boa Morte, Ilungana going down after taking a whack from his own team mate.

46mins

Good chance again for West Ham as Dyer sends Tristan away towards goal but the Spanish international takes too long and his eventual shot is blocked by Ivanovic.

46mins

West Ham get the second half underway with Zola's side still in the hunt for a Europa League spot whilst Chelsea have little to play for, Guus Hiddink conceding the title earlier this week.

45mins

Half-Time: WEST HAM 0-0 CHELSEA. A quiet first half comes to a close with Chelsea dominating but West Ham have had the better chances.

45mins

West Ham win a freekick 25 yards of goal, just to the right of centre which Stanislas takes but can only bend it over the bar with Cech unmoved.

41mins

West Ham win their first corner of the game and from it the ball is cleared off the line after Tristan's header from six yards, close call for Chelsea.

39mins

Chelsea win a freekick out on the right hand side of the pitch, 25 yards from goal with Malouda opting to go for goal, but it's drifts wide as the chance is wasted.

36mins

West Ham continue to defend deeply as Anelka drifts past Tomkins before trying to place the ball into the bottom corner, forcing Green into a decent save.

25mins

Chelsea are again first to the a ball that West Ham had half cleared leaving Lampard to drive it back in but a brave block by Neill makes sure Green isn't called into action.

21mins

Chelsea win another corner which Lampard curls in but Upson rises well and heads it away from danger.

20mins

Great chance for West Ham as Tristan plays in Dyer who breaks through the Chelsea backline but his effort is saved well by Cech when one-on-one with the former Newcastle man.

19mins

Junior Stanislas tries a to notch a Hollywod style goal, cutting in from the left and bending oe towards the top corner but it's high and wide.

16mins

Quick counter-attack by Chelsea after Tristan failed to control Neill's crossfield pass but as quick as a flash Lampard plays in Malouda who just bends it wide of Green's left hand post.

14mins

West Ham are under threat again as Anelka tries to break into the penalty area but again Neill does well to close the Frenchman down inside the box and clear it away.

10mins

Malouda swings in a corner for Chelsea which curls in towards goal but Green is up well to claim the ball and tries to set Tristan off on a run but again West Ham are shut down quickly by Chelsea.

4mins

Lampard is roundly booed by the West Ham fans as he swings in a corner which Anelka heads up into the air, the ball dropping inside the box as Kalou pokes it towards goal but can only send it wide.

3mins

Good stuff again from the Blues who have made a rapid start as Nicolas Anelka slides the ball into the penalty area for Malouda but Neill manages to hook it clear from danger.

0mins

Chelsea dominate possession straight from kick-off and they work it to Florent Malouda who has a shot from 25 yards but it travels well wide of Robert Green's goal.

0mins

Referee Mike Dean gets the game underway with Gianfranco Zola looking to get one over on his former club with Frank Lampard hoping to do the same thing for Chelsea.

0mins

Chelsea XI: Cech, Mancienne, Ivanovic, Terry, Bosingwa, Mikel, Belletti, Kalou, Lampard, Malouda, Anelka

0mins

Chelsea make five changes in preparation for their Champions League clash with Barcelona as Michael Mancienne, Jose Bosingwa, Juliano Belletti, Mikel and Salomon Kalou are in for Alex, A. Cole, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba.

0mins

West Ham XI: Green, Neill, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Boa Morte, Noble, Stanislas, Dyer, Tristan, Di Michele

0mins

West Ham make just one change to the side that drew 1-1 at Aston Villa last weekend with James Collins being replaced by Kieron Dyer.

Match Preview

West Ham United and Chelsea meet in a capital derby that is always played in a hot atmosphere due to the recent history between the two clubs.

The big-spending Blues have picked off the likes of Frank Lampard, Joe Cole and Glen Johnson from the Hammers' production line in recent years, meaning that the Irons faithful like to try and get one over on their visitors.

Spirits will be high at Upton Park ahead of this clash, with another former Blue, Gianfranco Zola, having proved to be an astute appointment earlier this season.

The Italian has guided West Ham to seventh place in the table and in with a shout of European football next season, although they have been held to draws in four of their last five games.

"We are just delighted," Zola admitted. "When you see a project coming together so well, you just feel so good.

"When you start something new you always have ambitions, you want to achieve something important, but you never know what you are going to get."

Zola will be hoping that both Scott Parker and Radoslav Kovac recover from knocks to feature, but is still shorn of the services of Carlton Cole, Valon Behrami and the injury-jinxed striker Dean Ashton.

Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink may opt to shuffle his pack. The Dutchman admitted his side's Premier League title hopes had vanished after the goalless draw against Everton at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

The stalemate, coupled with Manchester United's 2-0 victory against Portsmouth, has left Hiddink's side six points behind the league leaders, who also have a game in hand.

"Mathematically we're in the title race but we have to be honest and focus now on the Champions League and FA Cup," he said.

Hiddink is now likely to turn to fringe members of his squad like John Obi Mikel, Salomon Kalou, Franco di Santo, Michael Mancienne and Juliano Belletti - who were all on the bench against the Toffees - in the closing weeks of the season.


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Match Report

Salomon Kalou and Petr Cech proved the Chelsea heroes on an afternoon when third-placed Chelsea nudged West Ham out of a Europa League qualifying spot.

Kalou's second-half strike put the Blues on the road to victory against the team managed by former Stamford Bridge idol, Gianfranco Zola, and then the Czech Republic keeper saved Mark Noble's penalty to extend his side's unbeaten run to seven games.

Wednesday night's goalless draw with Everton may have already extinguished Chelsea's flickering title aspirations, but Guus Hiddink still harbours hopes of landing FA Cup and Champions League silverware before he departs these shores at the end of May.

And with one eye on their forthcoming midweek Champions League semi-final in Barcelona, the Dutchman made five changes to the side that had come unstuck against the Toffees, as Michael Mancienne, Jose Bosingwa, Juliano Belletti, John Obi Mikel and Kalou were each handed starts.

Indeed, Kalou almost repaid his manager's faith in him inside the opening minute, when he sent a rising 20-yarder sizzling past Robert Green's right-hand angle and, on the quarter-hour mark, the man from the Ivory Coast then raced into the box and drilled an angled shot just inches beyond the far post.

Following their draw at Aston Villa last Saturday, Zola made just one enforced change to his seventh-placed side as Kieron Dyer came in for James Collins (calf) and, likewise, the fit-again England midfielder had West Ham's first decent chance of the opening half, but with just Cech to beat, he fired straight at the towering keeper.

That was to prove a rare opportunity for the Hammers, whose blunt strike pairing of two, tiring 33-year-olds - in the shape of David Di Michele and Diego Tristan - failed to inflict any damage on John Terry and the rest of the visitors' defence.

At the other end, with Chelsea mopping every loose ball, Matthew Upson, Lucas Neill, James Tomkins and Herita Ilunga defended for their lives, as Florent Malouda, ex-Hammer Frank Lampard, Nicolas Anelka and Kalou each threatened to put the Blues ahead.

But, ironically, it was West Ham, who almost broke the deadlock, three minutes before the interval, when Tomkins nodded Noble's corner down for Tristan, whose weak goalbound prod was booted off the line by Mikel to keep it all-square at the break.

That was to prove an expensive miss by the former Spain international striker, for ten minutes after the restart, Chelsea struck the killer blow.

The heavily lambasted Lampard, got to the byline before scooping the ball over a handful of defenders towards the far post, where the unmarked Kalou, six yards out, sent his shot high into the roof of the net.

That was the cue for Ashley Cole to replace Bosingwa, while Zola introduced Freddie Sears, Radoslav Kovac and then Savio Nsereko at the expense of Dyer, Di Michele and Luis Boa Morte.

The outstretched legs of Green denied the breaking Anelka before Cole deposited an angled effort onto the top of the crossbar.

With 20 minutes remaining, though, West Ham were presented with a golden opportunity to claw themselves back into the contest, when Ilunga tumbled under the challenge of Kalou.

But with the luminous, orange-shirted Cech cutting an imposing figure between the posts, Noble saw his penalty clawed around the keeper's left-hand post, to keep Chelsea's three points intact.

West Ham United

Chelsea

Corners

35

Fouls

911

Goal attempts

920

Shots off target

211

Offsides

40

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