Joe Cole highlighted four Chelsea players for being at fault for the goal the Blues conceded in their Premier League draw against West Ham. Graham Potter watched on as his side got off to a brilliant start at the London Stadium with Joao Felix guiding home Enzo Fernandez's cross.
Prior to that opener, Felix had already found the back of the net but he was offside. Kai Havertz also beat Lukas Fabianski after the Portugal international opened the scoring but the linesman's flag was also raised, with the forward just slightly behind the Hammers backline.
Very quickly though the momentum and direction of the game was flipped on its head with former Chelsea player Emerson Palmieri equalising after a lapse of concertation in the Blues defence. The second half saw minimal chances but the final 10 minutes were surrounded in controversy with Tomas Soucek at the centre of it all.
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The midfielder first thought he'd won the game for West Ham but Declan Rice was offside in the build up, just minutes later Soucek blocked a Conor Gallagher shot with his arm in the penalty area, but no spot kick was given which meant the contest ended level.
Based on recent results and performances, defensive frailty is a surprising trait to associate with Chelsea after three consecutive clean sheets were picked up by the Blues prior to their London derby on Saturday.
Kepa Arrizabalaga nearly reached 300 league minutes without conceding before Emerson latched onto Jarrod Bowen's flick-on to equalise. During BT Sport's half-time coverage of the game, Joe Cole name checked four Chelsea players who could have prevented the goal from happening.
"It’s a good goal from West Ham, but bad defending," he said. "First of all Coufal just delivers it - that’s too much space - then at the far post Reece James and Thiago Silva just switch off. Emerson comes in and scuffs it, but here, Cucurella has got to say to Mudryk ‘you get there, if you don’t get there I’ve got the get there, and if I’m not there then I’ve got to retreat into that space and deal with Bowen.’
"As the cross has come in, Reece James takes his eye off the ball and Emerson gets it in. It’s about the details in football, and it’s 1-1. At this point in the game it was looking like a case of how many West Ham were going to stop them scoring, but one bit of quality, they got in, and it’s 1-1."
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