Kai Havertz scored a late winner as Chelsea came from behind to record a dramatic victory over West Ham, at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon.
The German hadn’t scored a Premier League goal since May 22 – but he ended his slump in the 88th minute on Saturday by sweeping in a low Ben Chilwell cross in a powerful response to being dropped from the starting line-up.
Havertz was one of several usual first-team players left out, as Thomas Tuchel also benched Jorginho and Mason Mount after a disastrous mid-week defeat to Southampton.
The Hammers found a breakthrough just after the hour mark, with Chelsea’s calamitous defending giving them a helping hand.
Once again, Tuchel’s team failed to deal with a corner and the ball eventually broke for Michail Antonio to tap home.
Chilwell, brilliant off the bench, levelled the score soon after coming on.
The wing-back took down Thiago Silva’s long ball expertly and then nutmegged Lukasz Fabianski with a deft finish.
He was involved in the winner too, setting up Havertz to be the hero in the final minutes of an intense second half.
West Ham then thought they had an equaliser, only for Maxwel Cornet’s apparent goal to be controversially disallowed by VAR.
It has taken a while for West Ham to get going this season but a win at Aston Villa and a well-earned point against Tottenham have given Moyes’ side some belief, and the visitors will feel they should also have taken something from Stamford Bridge.
It was a Cornet strike that did find the net that left Moyes furious, though, with Bowen adjudged to have caught goalkeeper Mendy before the ball fell to his team-mate.
“It is a scandalous decision,” said Moyes. “The referee gave it and I don’t know who sent him from VAR, but I always thought he would say it is a goal once he went to the screen.
“I have seen it from all angles and find it incredibly difficult to see how that is chalked off. I don’t know who in VAR sent him there.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel believes it was the right call, as he told BBC Sport: “We were lucky today to get the VAR decision in our favour, which was for me the correct decision. We want to turn the game around and keep the three points.”