Chelsea got back to winning ways in the Premier League with a 1-0 victory over West Ham to put some distance between themselves and a potential fifth-place finish.
In a hard-fought contest, Thomas Tuchel’s side proved to be good enough to claim this important victory on the road thanks to some important individual performances on the day.
So which players stood out the most for Chelsea?
West Ham 0-1 Chelsea: Player Ratings, Match Statistics
❌ Pablo Fornals: 5.9
West Ham knew that they would have to defend well and attack even better if they were going to take points off Chelsea. Unfortunately, despite some good defending, David Moyes' side were let down by the performance of attacker Pablo Fornals.
Over the course of the game Fornals managed just one shot towards goal but failed to complete a single dribble before being pulled off in the 69th minute by the West Ham manager.
✔️Timo Werner: 7.1
Well, it was bound to happen. Despite the numerous games, minutes and chances provided to the Chelsea striker over the course of this season, Werner went into Saturday’s game without a goal in his last 14 outings. And then, finally, he stuck the ball in the back of the net.
The German international will undoubtedly have Ben Chilwell to thank for the goal, who mauraded down the left flank and cut the ball back across the West Ham box, allowing Werner to simply tap it into the back of the net. It was an easy goal to score, in truth, but this striker won’t care.
Of course, that’s not to say Werner didn’t have his typical bouts of poor finishing too. In the 54th minute Mason Mount fired a shot towards goal, only for the goalkeeper to spill it into the path of Werner, who simply had to tap it into the back of the net. In typical fashion, Werner did everything right but dinked the ball over the keeper only to watch it bounce just wide. Oh well.
⭐ Ben Chilwell: 7.3
In a tricky match that demanded Chelsea to be at their most innovative in front of a packed and stubborn West Ham defence, the real match winner on the day was undoubtedly Chilwell on the left flank.
The England defender not only provided the all-important assist for Werner’s goal but also made 36 accurate passes over the course of the game and three that led to shots from one of his teammates.
Werner will undoubtedly steal the headlines with his winning goal, but Tuchel will know that the real difference maker in his squad on the day was his left-back.
Ben Chilwell 
Mason Mount 
Timo Werner 
West Ham 
Chelsea 
