Three things we learnt from Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over West Ham

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Antonio Conte’s reign at Chelsea got off to a winning start with a 2-1 victory over West Ham United at Stamford Bridge last night. The Blues needed a late Diego Costa winner to give them three points but, in truth, they had a firm stranglehold on the game throughout.

West Ham started vibrantly, but the loss of Andre Ayew seemed to disturb their flow and as they resorted to playing more long balls to Andy Carroll, the visitors became increasingly entrenched in their own half. Chelsea were cautious in the early stages, happy to let West Ham keep the ball and dropping off into their own half and holding a defensive shape.

However, as the game wore on they started pressing West Ham in the fashion associated with Conte’s teams and earned a deserved opening victory. We highlighted three things we learned from last night’s London Derby.