Manager Liam Rosenior atoned for picking a Chelsea starting Xl that had failed to deliver by making three critical substitutions to inspire a comeback completed in stoppage time.
Rarely have the Blues looked so depressingly lacklustre as they did against the Hammers, until Wesley Fofana, Joao Pedro and Marc Cucurella came on to rewrite the script.
Pedro and Cucurella made the scores level, then Enzo Fernandez fired home in stoppage time, prompting the red mist to descend on West Ham’s shellshocked players, with Jean-Clair Todibo red-carded for the attempted strangulation of Pedro.
Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah celebrates at the final whistle after the Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, London. (Image: John Walton/PA Wire)
Saturday afternoon’s bliss at Stamford Bridge contrasted with Sunday’s dismay at the Etihad, where Chelsea Women were thumped 5-1 by champions-to-be Man City; their worse league defeat for eight years, and the first time they had suffered back-to-back WSL losses for a staggering 11 years.
Nothing went right for the Blues as majestic City swept all before them; Brazilian star Kerolin scoring a hat-trick. Only Alyssa Thompson was on target with a consolation goal to make it briefly 4-1, before a Viv Miedema glancing header restored City’s utter dominance.
Chelsea Women travel to Spurs this weekend – the second BBC-televised encounter in seven days. But the title has gone, and some serious thinking has to be done.
For the men, following midweek League Cup action against Arsenal, there’s a trip to Wolves ahead of the eagerly awaited visit of an old enemy, Leeds United, on February 10. Can fans’ tickers cope with many more afternoons like that magnificent comeback against the Irons?