West Ham United put a fresh dent in Chelsea’s fading hopes of retaining the English title on Saturday when they beat the Premier League champions 1-0, thanks to a first goal for Marko Arnautovic since he joined West Ham in July.
Arnautovic swapped passes with Manuel Lanzini on the edge of the Chelsea penalty area and curled a low shot beyond Thibaut Courtois in the sixth minute of the London derby at West Ham’s London Stadium.
Chelsea struggled to break down a West Ham defence that looks much sturdier under new manager David Moyes, who celebrated his first Hammers win, and the visitors were vulnerable on the break to the power of Arnautovic and Michail Antonio playing as a striker.
The result left Chelsea 11 points behind runaway league leaders Manchester City and three behind second-placed Manchester United ahead of Sunday’s derby between the two Manchester clubs.