Diego Costa sealed an opening day victory for Chelsea this evening as he pounced with a minute to go in a match they dominated from the early stages.
The home side enjoyed much of the first-half play, and backed by a raucous Stamford Bridge crowd, took the lead on 47 minutes through Hazard after Cesar Azpilicueta was clumsily tripped by Michail Antonio.
Chelsea hadn’t lost to the east Londoners at home since September 2002 and it looked hardly likely this was about to change; until James Collins slammed home following a corner with 13 minutes to play.
But the Spanish striker, who had wasted a host of chances throughout the game, popped up when it mattered most and fired a shot that evaded both Collins and Adrian, into the far corner.
A much discussed tumultuous 2015/16 campaign on the Fulham Road had seen West Ham finish above Chelsea for the first time in 20 years but based on this evening’s proceedings, that is likely to become an anomaly come May.
Here are five key talking points from this evening’s Premier League encounter.
Conte’s bold selections
It’s not been a busy summer on the transfer front in SW6 thus far with Michy Batshuayi and N’Golo Kante the sole additions to new boss Conte’s squad; around £33million was shelled out for each of the pair.
The former was made to wait for his full debut with a place on the bench but Kante was thrust into the spotlight immediately, partnering Nemanja Matic in front of the back four, and looks to have settled in very well indeed; a 100 per cent first-half pass completion rate isn’t too shabby either.
Cesc Fabregas was likely to be disappointed as he found himself sat in the dugout for the entirety as the Conte era got underway.
Terry makes promising start
To put it bluntly, it would have been nothing short of a ludicrous decision to let club captain John Terry leave for free in the summer
To the delight of the Blues faithful, Terry put pen to paper on a new one-year deal in May, more than likely influenced by Conte’s arrival and the desire to put right what went so spectacularly wrong last season.
The 35 year-old is third on the all-time list of appearances at the club - this was number 707 - having progressed through the academy to the first team in 1998 and is third only to Ron Harris (795) and Peter Bonnetti (729).
There were deafening cheers as Terry’s name was read out by the stadium announcer prior to kick-off.
Hazard reinvigorated
The Belgian starred for his national side at Euro 2016, ending what had been a difficult season performance-wise with a wonderful solo goal in the thumping 4-0 first knockout round victory over Hungary.
It was almost a case of déjà vu 30 minutes in this evening as he picked up the ball in an almost identical position and held off Hammers debutant Andre Ayew to unleash a low shot at goal that missed by mere inches – such was his energy that Ayew pulled up with a thigh injury in the process of tracking Hazard.
Goalless from the start of last season until 31st January this year – a run of 30 games – the tournament clearly breathed a new lease of life into the playmaker as he began the season in majestic fashion, misplacing just nine of his 56 passes in the game and taking just 2 minutes after the break to open the scoring with a penalty high into the roof of Adrian’s net – Chelsea’s 5000th top-flight goal.
Chelsea keep the Hammers quiet
West Ham looked bright in the early stages – well for the first ten minutes at least – but after that they just offered very, very little.
The premature departure of Ayew may have disrupted Slaven Bilic’s plans in attack, but it did little to mask the fact that his side’s threat is heavily reliant on the dynamic influence of Dimitri Payet.
Payet entered the fold with 23 minutes to play and, coincidentally, it was only ten minutes before central defender Collins had levelled up the scores with a sublime left-footed volley; a sucker-punch for the home side but one they could do little about.
Wasted chances – but not when it mattered
Chelsea should have really put a couple more past their London counterparts; with Hazard and Costa both missing a number of chances throughout the game.
The aforementioned mazy run-and-shot from Chelsea’s number 10 should have crept in and Costa’s own attacking threat had been less than threatening but just when it mattered most, both goalscorers held their nerve and grabbed three valuable points for Conte’s men to get the new era underway in confident style.
