Enzo Fernández seals thrilling Chelsea fightback to shatter 10-man West Ham

Stamford Bridge was mutinous at half-time and in disbelief at the end. A pattern is developing under Liam Rosenior. Chelsea’s head coach messed up his starting lineup against Napoli on Wednesday but turned it around. He did it again when his side were 2-0 down and in danger of unravelling.

West Ham were on course for a major win in their fight against relegation after goals from Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville. Chelsea were all over the place before a triple substitution from Rosenior. Wesley Fofana and João Pedro came on to combine for the goal that made it 2-1. Marc Cucurella, another substitute, equalised and there was an explosion of noise when João Pedro cut the ball back for Enzo Fernández to sweep home the winner in added time.

West Ham, five points below Nottingham Forest in 17th place, ended in disarray. Nuno Espírito Santotactics worked beautifully during the first half but his negativity caught up with him in the end. West Ham have now dropped 17 points from winning positions and could not handle the disappointment. Tempers boiled over after Fernández’s goal, a mass brawl breaking out and ending with Jean-Clair Todibo being sent off after the defender appeared to throttle João Pedro.

Chelsea’s mentality in the so-called smaller games was under the spotlight. There was no room for complacency against opponents fighting for their lives. Rosenior had said it was a chance for him to learn a lot about his players. Even then, though, he could not have expected that the lesson delivered by Nuno would be quite so brutal during the first half.

West Ham had the hosts rattled from the start. Discombobulated by a muscular, coordinated press, building momentum was beyond Chelsea, who were thrown by Rosenior making seven changes before the second leg of their League Cup semi-final against Arsenal.

West Ham led in the seventh minute. Aaron Wan-Bissaka rampaged forward from right-back and found Jarrod Bowen. The captain delivered an inswinging cross and the presence of Pablo in the middle was enough to confuse Robert Sánchez, who reacted too late to stop the ball from drifting in at the far post.

Chelsea’s left flank was a mess. Jorrel Hato, deputising for Cucurella at left-back, was given a chasing by Bowen before being removed at half-time. West Ham targeted Hato and almost doubled their lead when Bowen combined with Taty Castellanos, whose shot was blocked by Sánchez.

Chelsea were becalmed. Jamie Gittens made his first league start since 4 December but the winger limped off in the 26th minute. Nothing was going Rosenior’s way. With West Ham blocking the middle, there was no space for Cole Palmer. As for Liam Delap, his only meaningful contribution was to barrel into Konstantinos Mavropanos long after the Greek centre-back had played the ball forward.

This was Chelsea at their childish worst. They were appalling and the home fans let them know it. Alejandro Garnacho was getting an earful from the crowd because of his refusal to track back and help Hato. It was an obvious weakness for West Ham to exploit. They had to keep looking for Wan-Bissaka’s overlaps. The defender was free again and Todibo picked out Bowen with a crossfield pass in the 36th minute. Garnacho was nowhere to be seen. Bowen had time to find Wan-Bissaka, who crossed for Summerville to sweep in his fourth goal in as many games.

Stamford Bridge was restless, perhaps even mutinous. Trevoh Chalobah was arguing with a fan when the teams walked off at half-time. Willie Isa, Chelsea’s player support and development officer, had to intervene.

It was looking like a Nuno masterclass. Rosenior made a triple substitution – Benoît Badiashile, Garnacho and Hato were off, João Pedro, Cucurella and Fofana were on – but West Ham kept pressing at the start of the second half. It took smart stops from Sánchez to deny Bowen and Mateus Fernandes.

Yet West Ham could not press home their advantage. Out of nowhere, Chelsea grabbed a lifeline. Fofana was allowed to advance and his cross teed up João Pedro to head in his fourth goal in his past three games.

The mood changed. Alphonse Areola made a stunning save from Moisés Caicedo. Nuno went defensive, removing Pablo for Max Kilman and switching to a back five, but he was asking for trouble. West Ham were inviting Chelsea to attack and the equaliser arrived within three minutes. Pedro Neto’s cross caused problems, Malo Gusto won the first header, Delap hit the bar from a yard out and Cucurella stooped to convert the rebound.

West Ham are without a clean sheet since August. That will have to change if they are to stay up. This was agonising. They hit the post through Todibo in the 86th minute and were heartbroken when Fernández continued his fine goalscoring form.