Timo Werner Scores as Chelsea Sink West Ham 1-0 to Tighten Grip on 4th Place
- Werner scored the only goal of the game as Chelsea saw off West Ham in a London derby
- Chelsea consolidated their place in fourth place with the win with only five games to go
- The Blues face Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final
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Timo Werner’s lone goal was enough to see Chelsea take a massive step towards securing Champions League football at the expense of West Ham United.
The German, who has struggled to settle in England since his £47m move from RB Leipzig last summer, started and finished a crisp move from the Blues in the first half.
He fired home from a Ben Chilwell cross after some nice interplay between himself and Christian Pulisic for his sixth league goal of the campaign.
West Ham, who have been one of the stand out teams this season, struggled to create solid chances throughout the game, and their fortunes on the day were summed up when Fabian Balbuena was shown a red card for catching Chilwell with his follow leg following a clearance.
The referee had to re-watch the incident on the pitch-side monitor before showing the Paraguayan his marching orders in the 81st minute.
The Hammers had a mild shout for a penalty when the scores were 0-0 when Tomas Soucek struck Cesar Azpilicueta in the midriff before hitting the Spaniard’s arm.
For West Ham, it was a disappointing result which dents their hopes for an unlikely push to the top four.
Notably, Chelsea frustrated them to the point they did not record a single attempt on target until the second half.
The win took Chelsea back to fourth, with 58 points three clear of their opponents West Ham and four ahead of Liverpool, who painfully dropped points against Newcastle in the earlier kickoff.
This is the start of a big week for Thomas Tuchel’s side, who secured a ticket to the FA Cup final where they will face Leicester City.
After a lowly draw against Brighton and Hove Albion midweek in the wake of protests against the European Super League, Chelsea will take loads of confidence from the win against West Ham as they head into the Champions League semi-final where they face Real Madrid.
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Premier League club Liverpool failed to move into the top four after failing to hold onto their lead as Newcastle deny the Reds all three points at Anfield.
Mohamed Salah stormed down the tunnel in despair as Jurgen Klopp’s side could not believe they yet again fail to move into the top four position.
They couldn’t get that crucial second goal, despite being presented with a lot of opportunities in the encounter, and they were punished by the visitors as Arsenal on-loan star Joe Willock struck in the 95th minute to hand Newcastle a vital point away from home.
Source: Legit.ng
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