Barclays Premier League

FT: WEST HAM 3 CHELSEA 1

The pressure is piled on new Chelsea manager Rafael Benitez as West Ham fight back magnificently in the second half to secure a famous victory. The visitors dominated before the interval but only had the one goal to show for their superiority, Juan Mata finishing off a fine flowing move on 13 minutes with a composed finish. Hammers manager Sam Allardyce brought on Mohamed Diame and Matt Taylor at the interval and his team were transformed. They pinned Chelsea back for long periods and finally got their reward after 63 minutes when Carlton Cole climbed above Branislav Ivanovic to head home from close range. Chelsea protests that their defender had been fouled fell on deaf ears. The Blues could still have snatched victory themselves, but Fernando Torres shot straight at Jussi Jaaskelainen when he should have scored after the West Ham stopper was only able to parry a shot from Eden Hazard and Juan Mata hit the post with a wonderful free-kick. West Ham, though, had chances off their own, with Matt Jarvis forcing an excellent save from Petr Cech and Winston Reid seeing his header cleared off the line by Ashley Cole. Their winner came four minutes from time from Diame, whose powerful low shot gave Cech no chance. Modibo Maiga added a third in stoppage time after a mistake by Cole.

GOAL: WEST HAM 3 CHELSEA 1

Maiga nets a third for West Ham after Cech can only divert Taylor's low shot into his path. The goal stemmed from a mistake by Ashley Cole.

STOPPAGE TIME

There will be four minutes of added time.

WEST HAM SUBSTITUTION

Modibo Maiga replaces the excellent Carlton Cole for West Ham.

GOAL DETAILS

The ball was played in by Jarvis from the left, Cole held the ball up and teed up Diame on the edge of the area, and his powerful shot went through the legs of Ivanovic into the bottom corner.

GOAL: WEST HAM 2 CHELSEA 1

Mohamed Diame puts West Ham in front.

OSCAR SHOOTS OVER

Oscar collects the ball 25 yards from goal, but his shot is high into the stands.

OFF THE LINE

Jarvis is through on goal for West Ham after a pass from Noble and drills an angled shot that forces Cech into a diving save to his left. Reid's header is cleared off the line by Ashley Cole from the ensuing corner.

CHELSEA SUBSTITUTION

Victor Moses is replaced by Marko Marin. The former Wigan man was excellent in the first half, but has faded in the second.

TAME REID HEADER

Reid is allowed a free header from a Taylor left-wing corner, but his effort lacks venom and allows Cech to move to his right to gather.

CHELSEA SUBSTITUTION

Jaaskelainen gives the ball away to Hazard, who is nowhere near with a chip from long range into what was an empty net. The Belgian promptly makes way for Oscar.

CHELSEA BOOKING

John Obi Mikel was cautioned for protesting over that West Ham equaliser being allowed to stand, by the way. We missed that in the ensuing frantic action.

OFF THE POST

Noble is booked for a horrible tackle on Ramires and Mata's resulting free-kick comes off the upright.

CHANCES AT BOTH ENDS

It's all action here. Cech saves a low shot from Jarvis at one end, at the other Hazard's goalbound shot is saved and Torres makes a mess of netting the rebound.

GOAL DETAILS

A cross from the left by Jarvis came off the head of Cahill and Cole was climbing all over Ivanovic as he soared to head home from close range.

GOAL: WEST HAM 1 CHELSEA 1

Carlton Cole scores against his old club and West ham are level.

HAZARD OUT OF SORTS

Juan Mata in particular and Victor Moses have both impressed today, but the third member of Chelsea's attacking midfield triumvirate, Eden Hazard, has been strangely subdued.

BLUES HANGING ON

It's like watching a different West Ham side in this second half. Chelsea are hanging on for their lives here.

CRUCIAL IVANOVIC CLEARANCE

Ivanovic makes a crucial clearance after Nolan's dangerous ball into the area had taken Cech out of the play and left the Chelsea goal unprotected.

CAHILL RETURNS

Cahill is back on again after treatment, with cotton wool stuffed up his nose to stop the bleeding.

BRAVE FROM CAHILL

A cross from the left by Taylor is only cleared to Nolan, whose initial shot is blocked. Cahill makes a brave clearing header and gets a boot in the face for his troubles.

REFEREE SAVES CECH

Cech makes a right mess of punching another corner clear under pressure from Nolan. The West Ham man is penalised, even though he was doing nothing wrong there and pleads his innocence to Mr Atkinson.

DIAME SHOT BLOCKED

A corner from the right is only half-cleared to the edge of the area and Diame's thunderous drive thuds into the back of team-mate Carlton Cole.

PRESSURE AT BOTH ENDS

Moses beats Demel with ease again down the Chelsea left, but Collins cuts out his driven ball into the area. Back come West Ham, Jarvis supplies the cross but Cole heads well over.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

Chelsea get the second half under way. West Ham have brought on Mohamed Diame and Matt Taylor for James Tomkins and Gary O'Neil.

HT: WEST HAM O CHELSEA 1

Chelsea lead at the break and on the evidence of that first-half display, will feel pretty confident they are heading for their first victory of the Rafa Benitez era. The goal came on 13 minutes and was beautifully worked, Victor Moses and Fernando Torres combining well to tee up Juan Mata, who finished with ease from 12 yards. Chelsea have looked dangerous and full of ideas going forward and have created other chances, with Moses slicing wide from a good position, Eden Hazard firing just over the crossbar and Jussi Jaaskelainen saving superbly to deny Mata a second. West Ham came closest in first-half stoppage time, Kevin Nolan forcing a great save from Petr Cech. Aside from that chance, the Hammers have lacked quality, attacking intent and, most surprisingly, the passion for the fight. Sam Allardyce will be laying into them at half-time in the dressing room, of that there is no doubt.

CECH REDEEMS HIMSELF

The free-kick is right on the edge of the area. Collins sees his shot half-charged down and Nolan's follow-up header is then superbly tipped over by Cech.

CHELSEA BOOKING

Petr Cech is booked after daftly coming to punch clear a Matt Jarvis cross and handling outside the area. Luckily for him, there were plenty of covering defenders.

MATA DENIED A SECOND

Azpilicueta escapes the attentions of O'Brien down the Chelsea right, but his pull-back doesn't fall kindly to a Blues attacker. Moses then tees up Mata superbly and the Spaniard sees his first shot superbly saved by Jaaskelainen and the second blocked bravely by O'Brien.

AMBITIOUS FROM TORRES

Torres goes for goal from long, long range, Jaaskelainen saves easily. The Spaniard may look a shadow of his former self these days, but he obviously still has confidence in his own ability.

GOAL DISALLOWED

Nolan has the ball in the net, but Martin Atkinson had given a foul against Collins long before and all Chelsea's defenders had stopped.

HAZARD GOES CLOSE

Cahill does well to retrieve an over-hit corner wide on the right and finds Hazard, who cuts inside his man and fires a blistering angled drive not far over the crossbar.

MATA DIFFERENT CLASS

I'm sorry, Rafa, but if Juan Mata is fit, he has to play. The Spaniard is different class here today, pulling the strings and at the heart of everything good Chelsea do going forward.

DANGEROUS ON THE BREAK

Chelsea break quickly again, with Torres skinning Collins down the left, only to deliver a sloppy pass which Hazard finds difficult to control, allowing West Ham to clear.

TORRES SHOOTS OVER

A Noble free-kick from the right causes momentary panic in the Chelsea area, but the Blues break quickly and Ramires tees up Torres, who shoots over from just inside the West Ham box.

HAMMERS NEED TO WAKE UP

This isn't a West Ham-like performance so far. Upton Park is traditionally a difficult place to come, with the home side normally roused by a vociferous home crowd, but the Hammers are very subdued and are giving the ball away all too easily.

BAD MISS BY MOSES

Chelsea have a great chance to make it two. Demel gives the ball away to Ramires, who hares down the left and picks out Moses, but he slices well wide of the target from 12 yards.

BRAVE NEW WORLD

So the goal drought in the Benitez era lasted 193 minutes. The Spaniard will be mightily relieved Chelsea fans have something to cheer. It might take their minds off booing him for a minute or two.

GOAL DETAILS

It's a classy goal from the visitors. Moses played the ball outside the right full-back, Torres was first to the pass and pulled it back for Mata, who slotted a left-footed effort along the ground into the corner. It's a quality goal from Chelsea's first serious attack of the match.

GOAL: WEST HAM 0 CHELSEA 1

Juan Mata gives Chelsea the lead with a left-foot shot.

LEADING FROM THE FRONT

West Ham need to score first here. They have not won a match in which they have trailed this season, drawing twice and losing the other four.

HERE COME THE HIGH BALLS

Finally West Ham do just that and start their aerial bombardment. It looks promising from the home side for a moment until Nolan pushes Azpilicueta in the back.

PATIENT BUILD-UP

There has been a real reluctance from West Ham in the early going just to pump the ball into the box and see what happens, unusual for a side managed by Sam Allardyce.

CECH NOT CONVINCING

Jarvis wins West Ham a corner on the left and Noble delivers. Cech could have easily caught that, but opts for an unconvincing punch and is relieved when his defence clears.

EAGER TO IMPRESS

Gary Cahill is playing his first match under Rafa Benitez today. The former Bolton central defender needs a big game, especially with John Terry close to a return.

WRAP UP WARM

It's not the warmest day here today. Wonder what temperature it would have to get down to for the bubbles floating around Upton Park to freeze?

HERE WE GO

West Ham kick off, attacking the goal to our left.

TODAY'S TEAMS

West Ham: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Collins, Reid, O'Brien, Tomkins, Noble, O'Neil, Nolan, Jarvis, Cole. Subs: Spiegel, Taylor, Diame, Maiga, Spence, Fanimo, Moncur. Chelsea: Cech, Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Cahill, Cole, Mikel, Ramires, Moses, Hazard, Mata, Torres. Subs: Turnbull, Ferreira, Bertrand, Romeu, Oscar, Marin, Piazon. Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).

TEAM NEWS

The big news for West Ham is that Andy Carroll's knee problem has ruled him out and Carlton Cole starts up front. Mark Noble returns in midfield and Gary O'Neil also comes in, with Matt Taylor and Mohamed Diame making way. Chelsea also make three changes. Out go David Luiz, Oscar and Oriol Romeu, in come Juan Mata, John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses.

PREVIEW

Can Rafael Benitez really be in the firing line already? Surely not, but the former Liverpool boss could do with a good result at West Ham to ease some of the pressure on him both from Chelsea supporters and the man that matters most, owner Roman Abramovich. The Russian billionaire's famous lack of patience sees Benitez fifth favourite among some bookmakers to be the next Premier League manager to get the boot – and he's only been in the job ten days! Chelsea fans clearly loathe Benitez and judging by the protests seen at Stamford Bridge in their last two homes games, it is going to take something monumental to alter their opinions that in no way, shape or form should Rafa be the gaffer. It's not quite a mutiny of Bountyesque proportions yet, but if nothing else Benitez could do with his side finding the net as they have failed to score in three successive games for the first time in the Abramovich era. West Ham have slipped down the table a little after their impressive start, but they haven't been helped by a tricky run of fixtures. There's little respite, either, with Liverpool up next at Upton Park and Everton and the return at Arsenal all coming up in the next four games. Today's game kicks off at 1245GMT, so join us around 30 minutes beforehand when we should have the confirmed team news, which will be followed by a match commentary.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Kevin Nolan has led the way for West Ham all season and his five goals and two assists from an advanced midfield position are one of the main reasons the Hammers have started so well. Nolan has had 36 attempts at goal, way more than anybody else on the team. On-loan Andy Carroll broke his West Ham duck with a goal at Tottenham in a losing cause last weekend, but it is worth noting that only four of his 22 shots have actually been on target, a dismal 18.2 per cent accuracy rate. Talking of dismal, £50 million Fernando Torres has gone 10 hours and 49 minutes without scoring, netting just once in the last eight weeks and even that goal against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League owed a lot to luck. Juan Mata has scored four goals (the same as Torres) and added a team-high six assists, but he was dropped to the bench for the visit of Fulham on Wednesday. No, I can't work that one out either.

HEAD TO HEAD

Chelsea just have the better head-to-head record in league meetings between the sides with 35 wins to 34 by West Ham and 17 games being drawn. At Upton Park, West Ham have 22 wins to 13 by Chelsea, with a further eight meetings ending up all square. The corresponding match two season ago finished in a 3-1 win to Chelsea with a pair of goals from Michael Essien and one from Salomon Kalou. Scott Parker's 85th-minute strike was nothing more than a consolation. Chelsea went on to complete the double over the soon-to-be-relegated Hammers, winning 3-0 at home with goals from Frank Lampard (44 mins), Fernando Torres (84) and Florent Malouda (90). Chelsea have won the last three meetings and are unbeaten in the last 12, winning ten and drawing two. The last West Ham success was a narrow win at Upton Park on May 3, 2003.

FORM GUIDE

West Ham currently lie 10th with 19 points from 14 games. They have only lost one of seven matches at home, to another London club, Arsenal. Chelsea are in third place, with 26 points from 14 games. They have only lost one of six matches on the road, but that was at West Brom in their last away game. Chelsea collected 22 points from the first 24 available, but since thenn have not won a game in the league. The slump started with that controversial 3-2 home defeat by Manchester United, triggering a run which saw them collect just four points from a possible 18. The Blues have drawn their last two games 0-0 with Manchester City and Fulham. West Ham have failed to win in their last three, defeats at Tottenham and Manchester United following a 1-1 draw with Stoke. They have won just one of the last six.

EARLY TEAM NEWS

Mark Noble is available again for West Ham, having been suspended for Wednesday's defeat at Manchester United. The Hammers will give a late fitness test to Andy Carroll, who has been bothered by a knee problem. Ricardo Vaz Te (shoulder), Alou Diarra (thigh) and Jack Collison (knee) are all definitely out and on-loan Yossi Benayoun cannot play against his parent club. John Terry (knee) and Frank Lampard (calf) are back in training for Chelsea but neither are likely to be risked before the upcoming Club World Cup. Daniel Sturridge is still out with a hamstring problem, so Fernando Torres will again be leading the line.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Taking charge of today's game is Martin Atkinson, who has been a member of the Premier League's elite group of referees since 2005 and who became a FIFA referee a year later. The West Yorkshire-based official showed nine red cards last season, by far the most of any Premier League referee. Four of those dismissals came in his first seven Premier League games, though Atkinson has made a slow start this time around with just one red cards to his name – Newcastle's Cheick Tiote – in his first nine matches. His assistants today are Peter Kirkup and Darren England, while Neil Swarbrick is the fourth official.