Yarmolenko makes Chelsea pay in derby as West Ham edge clear of drop zone

The day Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner officially became Chelsea players ended with Frank Lampard seeing that his side will continue to fall short until they sort out their accident-prone defence. Reality bit hard when Andriy Yarmolenko cut inside to seal a crucial win in added time for West Ham. Chelsea were a mess at the back throughout this chaotic London derby and while Lampard has sharpened his attack before next season, he would be wise to sign a top centre-back this summer. There is no doubt Werner and Ziyech will make Chelsea more potent up front. While they will improve an attack that still flatters to deceive, it is debatable whether Lampard should continue his pursuit of Kai Havertz if signing the Bayer Leverkusen attacker means he will not have funds for defensive reinforcements. This was a calamitous display from Chelsea, who wasted an opportunity to move five points clear of Manchester United and replace Leicester in third, and another reminder they lack the balance to rival Liverpool and Manchester City. With Kepa Arrizabalaga unwilling to ease the pressure by coming off his line to claim set-pieces, the defensive frailties were glaring. Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen were bullied by Michail Antonio and the final blow came when Marcos Alonso failed to track back to deal with a West Ham counterattack, allowing Yarmolenko to win the game. The way Rüdiger was left exposed against Yarmolenko will strengthen Lampard’s determination to replace Alonso with the Leicester left-back, Ben Chilwell. Yet there were deficiencies across the back four and West Ham exploited them well, using Antonio’s physicality to good effect in the opening period before attacking clinically in the closing stages. Full report here