Conte immediately argued with the fourth official—
But unfortunately,
It had no effect!
Chelsea were still trailing West Ham United 0–1.
As the game continued—
West Ham United had no choice but to sit deep and defend!
Whenever they found an opportunity to counterattack, their players would immediately launch forward and put pressure on Chelsea's goal.
It didn't take long.
To be precise, in the 20th minute of the first half, West Ham United once again created an excellent offensive opportunity.
Midfielder Noble received the ball—
His first pass was played out to Masuaku on the right.
But just as Masuaku got the ball, Chelsea's defender was already in position.
His name—Marcos Alonso.
In recent matches,
Marcos Alonso had been playing full minutes, but his stamina remained top-notch.
As soon as he saw Masuaku receive the ball—
He sprinted forward at full speed, immediately closing the gap with the West Ham winger.
Masuaku didn't hesitate either.
He accelerated at once.
In this race of speed—
Marcos Alonso was clearly no match.
With another burst of acceleration, Masuaku completely left Alonso behind—gaining a full body's length of separation.
The ball looked like it was about to roll out for a goal kick...
But just in time—
The West Ham winger delivered a composed cross into the box.
And this time—
Masuaku's delivery was near perfect.
With just a touch of finesse,
The ball floated beautifully into Chelsea's penalty area.
There it was—
West Ham United's main striker, Anaunovic, was already waiting and successfully connected with the ball!
Anaunovic was in excellent form tonight.
After all, it took him less than two minutes earlier to score against Chelsea.
Clearly, he wanted to replicate that moment.
But unfortunately—
This time, Chelsea's defense didn't make any mistakes.
They gave him no breathing room.
Just as Anaunovic jumped up for the header—
Two Chelsea defenders, Cesar Azpilicueta and Gary Cahill, closed in on him in an instant.
The physical strength of Azpilicueta and Cahill was frightening.
When these two are marking someone together—
It's nearly impossible for the attacker to get a clean chance!
As expected—
The ball was cleared cleanly by Gary Cahill.
West Ham United missed a scoring opportunity, but now—
Chelsea had a golden chance to counterattack.
Fabregas, still stationed in midfield, took control of the ball.
He had always been Chelsea's metronome during transitions.
At that moment—
Just as Fabregas was about to play the ball forward—
West Ham's midfielders swarmed in immediately!
There were many.
Noble, Kouyate, and of course, Zabaleta!
Three defensive players suddenly closed in on Fabregas at the same time.
Zabaleta led the charge—
Trying everything to stop Fabregas from completing the pass.
He tried his best to block the angle and cut off options—
But...
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