Substitute Andriy Yarmolenko’s late strike earned West Ham United a precious 3-2 victory over Chelsea in a topsy-turvy Premier League derby on Wednesday.
Yarmolenko raced clear in the 89th-minute to plant a shot past Kepa Arrizabalaga and clinch three vital points in West Ham’s battle to avoid relegation.
Willian had put Chelsea in front in the 41st-minute from the penalty spot but Tomas Soucek, who had already had a goal ruled out by VAR, headed the hosts level on the stroke of halftime.
Michail Antonio then turned in Jarrod Bowen’s cross shortly after the break to give the hosts the lead.
Willian’s majestic 72nd-minute free kick which beat Lukasz Fabianski and crashed in off the post set up a frenetic finale.
With Chelsea seeking a winner they were caught on the break and Yarmolenko kept his cool to earn West Ham a league double over Frank Lampard’s side who wasted the chance to move into third spot in their chase for a Champions League place.
Aubameyang nets 50th Premier League goal
A terrible error from goalkeeper Tim Krul gifted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang his 50th Premier League goal as Arsenal thumped Norwich City 4-0 at the Emirates, pushing the Canaries ever closer to relegation.
Krul foolishly attempted to fake a long kick and dribble past the Gabon striker in the 33rd minute, but he nicked the ball off the keeper’s foot and rolled it into the net to reach a half-century of goals in the English top flight.
The Gunners scored a brilliant second four minutes later as David Luiz started an attack with a superb cross-field ball to Kieran Tierney. His pass found Aubameyang, who teed up Granit Xhaka to score with a sweet first-time shot.
Norwich manager Daniel Farke made three changes at the break and his side started the second half brightly, with replacement striker Adam Idah forcing a save in the first minute of the second period.
However, Norwich’s penchant for mistakes came back to haunt them, and Aubameyang killed the game off with his second goal in the 67th minute after the visitors lost the ball from their own throw-in.
Cedric Soares came off the bench to score his first goal for Arsenal in the 81st minute as the London club climbed to seventh place on 47 points. Norwich remained bottom on 21 points, six behind 17th-placed West Ham United with six games left.
Aubameyang said he was proud of his goal-scoring record at Arsenal, adding that discussions with the club about signing a new contract were ongoing.
“We’ll talk with the club and we’re going to see what’s going to happen, but first of all I’m really focused on the games and the end of the season, so we’ll see,” the 31-year-old told BT Sport.
