Young defender Alese watches on from the bench as West Ham concede last-minute goal vs Chelsea

Published: April 24, 2022

Two days after captaining West Ham United U23sin the last eight of the Premier League Cup, promising central defender Ajibola Alese monitored proceedings from the bench as the Hammers lost 1-0 to Chelsea in a Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

The England U20 international of Nigerian has yet to make his Premier League debut after making West Ham United's matchday squad on ten occasions.

Alese saw his chances of being named in the squad increase, with three center backs in the form of Kurt Zouma, Issa Diop and Angelo Ogbonna sidelined by injuries.

It was a first half of frustration for Thomas Tuchel and his side as there was no big response after their defeat to Arsenal and a couple of moments it could have turned out worse with defensive lapses from Trevoh Chalobah and Cesar Azpilicueta.

Four minutes to the end of the game, the excellent Craig Dawson was sent off for a foul on Romelu Lukaku in the box but goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski saved a terrible penalty taken by Jorginho.

Two minutes after that, Christian Pulisic was alert to guide the ball into the bottom corner for the game-winning goal and put West Ham to the sword.

Chelsea were two points ahead of Arsenal before today's clash but move to five after ending their poor home form in the Premier League.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : chelseafc.com

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