LONDON—Chelsea battled back from two goals down to beat West Ham 3-2 in a feisty London derby in the Premier League on Saturday, thanks to goals from halftime substitutes Joao Pedro and Marc Cucurella and a stoppage-time Enzo Fernandez winner.
The Hammers, struggling to climb out of the relegation zone, went ahead in the seventh minute through captain Jarrod Bowen and doubled their lead in the 36th when Crysencio Summerville hit a bullet shot past Robert Sanchez.
Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior’s three halftime substitutions, however, fired up his side who had looked disjointed and tired after their victorious midweek trip to Napoli, mistiming tackles and misplacing passes.
In the 57th minute, Wesley Fofana crossed for fellow substitute Joao Pedro to head home at the far post and in the 70th Marc Cucurella brought Chelsea level with a diving header.
Fernandez completed the comeback two minutes into added time when he fired in a cutback from Joao Pedro. West Ham’s Jean-Clair Todibo was sent off shortly afterwards for his part in a melee.
On the other hand, earlier this week, England winger Raheem Sterling left Chelsea by mutual agreement, the Premier League club said on Wednesday, after the 31-year-old was frozen out of the squad before and after a loan move at Arsenal last season.
Sterling joined Chelsea from Manchester City – where he won four Premier League titles – in a deal worth 50 million pounds ($69 million) in July 2022 on a five-year contract, but the move turned sour with the arrival of Enzo Maresca as manager in 2024.
Maresca made it clear that Sterling was not the type of winger he was looking for, and the player trained apart from the first team before joining Arsenal on loan. Sterling returned to Chelsea having failed to impress Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
Sterling was again exiled from the senior squad, and while new manager Liam Rosenior said he would speak with him, the situation remained unchanged.