Gary Cahill: Chelsea defender left 'scratching my head' after defeat to West Ham

Blues had several incidents go against them

Saturday 24 October 2015 19:14

(AP)

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill said he was left 'scratching his head' after Chelsea's bad luck during the defeat against West Ham.

Jose Mourinho finds himself under immense pressure after the Blues' nightmare start got even worse with a 2-1 defeat to their local rivals.

But the centre-back said that his side were unlucky during the game, pointing to the Cesc Fabregas goal that was given offside, the ball that was an inch from crossing the line and confusion over the Nemanja Matic seending off.

"You're left scratching your head sometimes," Cahill, who equalised for the Blues, told BBC Sport.

"In the first half the Cesc Fabregas goal could have been given and we had the goal that was nearly over the line. That sums up the way we're going.

"And then we've got the sending-off. Originally we played on - we thought the referee had played on. Maybe the assistant called it back, I'm not sure sure what's happened there.

"We've not had the rub of the green but we're not feeling sorry for ourselves. We have to work hard to turn this round.

West Ham vs Chelsea - player ratings

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1/23West Ham vs Chelsea - player ratings

Made a one-handed acrobatic save to deny Fabregas’ corner early on before superbly saving Willian’s free-kick later. He then combined with Lanzini to clear Zouma’s header off the line but couldn’t do much to keep out Cahill’s powerful equaliser.

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Performed well against the threat of Hazard, but was outmuscled enough by Zouma to put him off clearing the ball in the build-up to Cahill’s goal.

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Former a solid partnership with Collins to keep Cost quiet all game.

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Made several key clearances to deal with Chelsea’s attacks while

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Performed well to keep a grip on Willian in the game, although there were moments he was outrun by the Brazilian. However, he played the key ball into the area that Carroll secured the win from and he will see this as a fine game.

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Performed well to marshal his side and deal with danger in the middle of the park.

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Worked well in midfield to contain Fabregas in the first half, but allowed Cahill to run free before he equalised. Still, it didn’t matter too much with Carroll later scoring.

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Despite playing through the middle, the winger kept dropping to the flanks to cause Chelsea all sorts of problems. But he carried out his defensive duties well ded – bullying Fabregas off the ball in one incident before clearing ball from Costa’s path and cleared Zouma’s header off line. Should have made it 2-0 but chipped ball over bar with time and space.

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The winger won and took the corner that Zarate scored from while creating several other chances for the home side. His pace caused Zouma problems especially as he regularly linked up with Lanzini to create attacks.

Scored West Ham’s opener in the 15th minute with his low drive after finding himself completely unmarked. Had less of an impact going forwards than Lanzini and Payet, but stepped up when needed.

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Endured a very quiet game and did not make an impact up front for the home side.

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Was brought on for goalscorer Zarate and the striker outmuscled Cahill to make it 2-1. An inspired substitution.

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Did well when forced into action but again, was let down by his defence.

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The defender’s header came to within an inch of giving Chelsea the equaliser, but goal-line technology ruled it just on the line. The Frenchman played a part in the Blues’ equaliser, applying the pressure to put Jenkinson off clearing Willian’s corner, which eventually fell to Cahill. However, he did have a few moments where he appeared unsure in his new position of right-back.

Got Chelsea back into the game when he equalised with a fine shot in the 56th minute – his first Premier League goal in 350 days – but was outjumped by Carroll for West Ham’s second goal.

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Initially defended well, but was to blame for failing to adequately clear the ball in the build-up to Carroll’s match-winning goal.

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Left Zarate complete unmarked for the opener before being shown a yellow for a foul on Lanzini. In contrast to recent weeks, looked more vulnerable at left-back against the Hammers.

Struggled to contain the pace and trickery of Lanzini, Payet and Zarate ,who kept interchanging and running riot in midfield. Was brought off for Falcao in the dying stages of the game.

After failing to control Lanzini in the middle of the park, the midfielder needlessly got himself sent off in the 44th minute after pulling back Kouyate before fouling Sakho.

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His chipped ball created a good chance for Costa early on, but the midfielder once again failed to impress and it was his foot, which the ball deflected off in the build-up to West Ham’s opener before his goal was flagged as offside. Was hauled off at half-time for Mikel.

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Worked hard, as usual, for the Blues on the left flank but did not create any clear-cut chances. Was one of Chelsea’s better players on the day.

Was hardly involved in Chelsea’s attacking play in the first period as Jenkinson shackled him well and didn’t do enough with his one good chance in the second period.

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Should have done better with the two shots he had in the first half but fired one high and the other wide. Was kept quiet by Tomkins and Collins all afternoon and spent the game largely as a bystander.

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"Not many words are being said at the moment. I'm sure we'll reflect in next day or so. We worked really hard at 10 men and had the majority of the play in the second half. It's a summary of our season at the minute."

Additional reporting from PA

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