LONDON, Feb 11: João Félix’s second match for Chelsea went better than his first.
The Portugal forward scored his first goal for the club in a 1-1 draw at West Ham in the Premier League on Saturday on his return from a three-game suspension following a sending-off on his debut a month ago.
Félix guided home a volley off a cross from another new signing, Enzo Fernandez, in the 16th minute only for Emerson Palmieri — a former Chelsea player — to equalize in the 28th.
It was a third straight draw for Chelsea’s expensively assembled team, which is languishing in midtable in what increasingly appears a forlorn bid to qualify for the Champions League.
In an action-packed finale, West Ham had a goal by Tomas Soucek disallowed for an offside in the buildup and Chelsea had appeals for a penalty waved away after Soucek appeared to handle the ball when blocking Conor Gallagher’s shot.
The Atletico Madrid loanee looked to have opened the scoring on 10 minutes as he pounced on a mistake by Nayef Aguerd to race through and eventually tap into an empty net after his initial chip was thwarted by the face of the right post. However, the effort was ruled out after a delayed offside flag.
Félix, though, was not stifled for long and put his side ahead six minutes later. A series of Chelsea attacks culminated in record signing Fernandez floating a sumptuous ball in, which the 23-year-old met to tap home after freeing himself from Aguerd in the box.
David Moyes’ side tested their luck further when Kai Havertz was found in behind by Mykhailo Mudryk and slotted beyond Lukasz Fabianski, but an offside flag and subsequent VAR check put pay to striker’s ill-timed run.
Despite dominating most of the match, the visitor’s lead was lost with West Ham’s second effort on goal as Emerson restored parity on 28 minutes. Vladimir Coufal found space on the right to swing in a cross which was headed on by Jarrod Bowen, finding Emerson at the back post to scuff past Kepa Arrizabalaga. (Agencies)
