At the moment Arnautović took the shot, another defender, Gary Cahill, appeared in front of him.
His timing was perfect.
Gary Cahill lunged forward to block—
And successfully prevented Arnautović's attempt on goal!
With only two minutes remaining in the first half,
This became Chelsea's golden opportunity to launch a counterattack.
After Fàbregas gained control of the ball in midfield,
He did what he does best—
Immediately delivered a pass to Hazard on the left flank.
Time was running out.
So during this phase, Chelsea's attacking strategy became simple and direct.
Hazard didn't try to take on the defense himself.
Instead, he quickly passed the ball to the "little monster" Lukaku, who was positioned inside the penalty area.
Up until now,
Lukaku hadn't had many standout moments in the game.
For most of the first half, he had played more of a background role.
But now—finally—
Lukaku had a genuine chance to shoot!
The ball landed perfectly in front of him.
Just as the powerful forward was about to strike,
Cresswell appeared again to block his path.
As mentioned earlier,
This West Ham United defender had plenty of experience under his belt.
He courageously cleared the ball before Lukaku could even get the shot off!
The score between the two teams remained 1–1.
There was only one minute left.
And now West Ham United had another attacking chance.
In the away fan section at Stamford Bridge,
Hundreds of passionate West Ham supporters were chanting loudly, even aggressively.
They were desperate for their players to deliver a miracle in the final minute of the half.
A single goal—
And West Ham could head into halftime with the lead.
But unfortunately for them…
West Ham's players weren't able to conjure up any miracles.
The score remained 1–1.
Soon after—
The referee blew the whistle to signal halftime.
Chelsea and West Ham United were tied at one goal apiece going into the break.
Overall,
Chelsea's performance in the first half was fairly average.
But—
Coach Antonio Conte was still full of confidence.
Back in the locker room,
Conte passionately addressed his players:
"West Ham United did cause us some real trouble in the first half," he admitted,
"But I believe in every single one of you!"
"You have what it takes to turn this around!"
"Victory is destined to belong to us—Chelsea!"
"There are thousands of loyal fans in the Stamford Bridge stands tonight," he continued.
"I want each of you to repay that support with a fighting spirit!"
"Su Luo, show them what you're worth!"
"I believe you can make magic happen!!"
At the same time, over in Dressing Room 053,
West Ham United manager David Moyes was also highly energized.
In his opinion,
Based on the current performance of his players,
It was no small feat to be putting pressure on Chelsea's goal so consistently.
And of course, everyone knew how formidable Chelsea's defense could be—
There was no need to state the obvious.
Winning away at Stamford Bridge was never going to be easy.
"At the start of the second half," Moyes instructed,
"I want you to press Chelsea's goal as much as possible—try to grab an early lead!"
"But if we can't create scoring chances early on,
Then we switch strategies—fall back and focus on defense."
"Our bottom line is to at least secure a draw!"
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