• Chelsea beat West Ham 2-1 on Monday evening at Stamford Bridge
  • Blues produced second-half comeback to recover from Jarrod Bowen opener
  • Result moves Chelsea into fourth after weekend defeats for Man City and Newcastl

Chelsea rose to fourth in the Premier League table on Monday evening with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over West Ham United.

Former Chelsea manager Graham Potter was looking for vengeance on his return to Stamford Bridge and his West Ham side found themselves in a commanding position at the half-time break after Jarrod Bowen's clinical strike offered them the lead.

But fortune favoured the Blues after the break as Pedro Neto produced an equaliser before Aaron Wan-Bissaka's own goal handed Chelsea a crucial victory in their pursuit of Champions League qualification.

How the game unfolded

With transfer deadline day whirring in the background, both sides turned their attention to the on-field action at Stamford Bridge. The travelling West Ham supporters were in fine voice for their trip across the capital but were almost silenced in the 15th minute as Noni Madueke flashed a shot past the post.

Chelsea had won just one of their previous seven Premier League matches and looked a team low on confidence in the opening stages. They failed to test Areola and struggled to strut their stuff as Enzo Fernandez rolled a rare opportunity wide on the half-hour mark.

The Blues were punished for their uninspiring start just three minutes before the half-time whistle as Bowen, who was making his first appearance of the year following injury, capitalised on Levi Colwill's short back-pass. West Ham's returning talisman raced onto the loose ball and ruthlessly fired a low drive beyond Filip Jorgensen.

Conceding the opener appeared to spur on the lethargic hosts in the dying embers of the first half and a moment of magic from Cole Palmer almost brought a quick-fire equaliser. An inch-perfect free kick was heading for the top corner before an exceptional save from Areola plucked it from underneath the crossbar.

The home faithful grew increasingly frustrated with Chelsea's continued lack of invention but were left smiling with 25 minutes remaining as the hosts equalised. Neto fired in the leveller from close range after a scramble in the area but the goal wasn't without controversy as West Ham felt they should have been awarded a free kick in the build-up. A lengthy VAR check for offside couldn't save the Irons, either.

The re-energised Stamford Bridge faithful were once again on their feet just ten minutes later as Chelsea completed their comeback. The talismanic Palmer was at the heart of their second goal of the evening, with his cross taking a huge deflection off Wan-Bissaka before spiralling into the far corner.

Spirits were unsurprisingly raised after Chelsea took the lead and the home side applied continuous pressure to the West Ham goal in the closing stages. Areola was forced into an impressive reflex save before seeing Palmer's strike from the edge of the penalty area whistle past his post.

The Hammers occasionally flexed their muscles on the counter-attack in the dying embers and Chelsea needed an inspired last-ditch challenge from Tosin Adarabioyo in stoppage time to hold on to three crucial points.