- Chelsea were slow out of the blocks as they fell behind at West Ham
- Arnautovic’s early goal added to problems for Conte
- CFC fans hit out at midfield ace Bakayoko
- READ MORE: Chelsea ace edges closer to exit, Conte set to wield axe as Euro giants swoop
It wasn’t a great opening 45 minutes for Chelsea at West Ham United on Saturday, especially after Marko Arnautovic gave the hosts the lead after six minutes.
With the two Manchester clubs meeting on Sunday, this could have been seen as an opportunity for Antonio Conte’s side to close the gap on the leaders.
However, they were off the pace from the opening whistle with West Ham taking full advantage as they went ahead with Arnautovic grabbing his first Premier League goal for the club.
Chelsea did improve thereafter as they enjoyed plenty of possession and put the pressure on their city rivals, but it wasn’t enough to overturn their deficit or even get back on level terms before the half-time interval.
In turn, that gave supporters the opportunity to offload their anger at individuals who disappointed in the first half, and it was midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko who bore the brunt of their frustration, as per the tweets below.
The 23-year-old has had a decent start to life in England after his summer move from Monaco, scoring two goals and providing three assists in 19 games, but he has often looked off the pace and struggles with fundamental bits of midfield play.
It seems some of the Chelsea faithful are an unforgiving lot based on the comments below, with some even calling for him to be sold never mind dropped. We think that’s a bit of stretch at this stage…