A second-half turnaround inspired by Cole Palmer helped Chelsea leapfrog Manchester City into the top four.
Image credit: Jackson Chelsea
Chelsea climbed back into the Premier League’s top four with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over West Ham United at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues came from behind to secure only their second win in eight games, dealing a blow to former manager Graham Potter on his return to west London.
Bowen Pounces on Chelsea’s Defensive Error
West Ham took the lead in the 42nd minute when Jarrod Bowen, making his first appearance of 2025 after recovering from a fractured foot, capitalized on a misplaced backpass from Levi Colwill.
The forward showed great composure to slot the ball past Filip Jorgensen, putting the visitors ahead at the break.
Chelsea had struggled to break down a disciplined West Ham side, with their best first-half chances coming through Noni Madueke, Enzo Fernandez, and Jadon Sancho—none of whom could convert their opportunities.
Maresca’s Changes Turn the Game Around
Enzo Maresca reacted swiftly after halftime, bringing on Pedro Neto and Marc Guiu in search of attacking spark.
NETO! 🤩#CFC | #CHEWHU pic.twitter.com/1joenrnnT7
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 4, 2025
The move paid off in the 64th minute when Marc Cucurella kept Neto’s deep cross in play, setting up Fernandez for a shot that was blocked by Vladimir Coufal.
The rebound fell kindly to Neto, who made no mistake in drawing Chelsea level.
Chelsea gained momentum after the equalizer and completed the comeback 10 minutes later.
A cross from Cole Palmer took a wicked deflection off Aaron Wan-Bissaka, wrong-footing Alphonse Areola and securing the win for the hosts.
The winner! 😍#CFC | #CHEWHU pic.twitter.com/ds44V6cMH4
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) February 4, 2025
Chelsea Take Advantage of Rivals’ Slip-Ups
With Manchester City suffering a 5-1 defeat at Arsenal and Newcastle losing 2-1 at home to Fulham, Chelsea took full advantage, moving up to fourth place with 43 points—two ahead of both City and Newcastle.
Maresca praised his team’s resilience, stating:
We are there and hopefully we can be there until the end. Playing this kind of game in February, where we are still there is an important statement.
It was a good weekend for us in terms of [other] results and we knew today was even better.
The Chelsea manager also explained his decision to start Jorgensen in goal over Robert Sanchez, who was at fault for Erling Haaland’s goal against Manchester City last week.
“In this moment, Robert needs rest and Filip was very good,” Maresca added.
Defensive Errors Continue to Haunt Chelsea
Despite the victory, Chelsea’s defensive frailties remain a concern.
Colwill’s costly mistake marked their fifth error leading directly to a goal in their last six Premier League matches—only bottom-placed Southampton (17) and Aston Villa (11) have made more this season.
Frustration for Potter on His Stamford Bridge Return
Graham Potter, who was dismissed by Chelsea in 2023 after just seven months in charge, had hoped for a positive result on his return to Stamford Bridge.
West Ham looked the better side in the first half, with Bowen forcing a save from Jorgensen before finding the opener.
They also had reason to feel aggrieved when Bowen appeared to be fouled by Colwill in the build-up to Chelsea’s equalizer, but referee Stuart Attwell waved away their appeals.
Having called his Chelsea sacking, prior to this match, the “best thing” that happened to him, Potter acknowledged the frustration but focused on the positives:
I thought the performance was really good, lots of good things. I thought we were intelligent tactically.
Mohammed Kudus nearly rescued a point for West Ham, heading against the post late on, but Chelsea held firm to see out the win.
With upcoming London derbies against Brentford and Arsenal, West Ham will need to regroup quickly as they look to climb away from 15th place.
Did you know?
This is the first time since December 2013 Chelsea won a Premier League game at Stamford Bridge in which they trailed at half-time.