Chelsea 0-0 West Ham: Hammers Hold Firm To Deny Blues

James Tomkins and James Collins put in heroic defensive performances as West Ham picked up a priceless point away from home. The Hammers' defence produced a stubborn display to deny Jose Mourinho's side their sixth straight win of 2014. The match started at a frantic pace, Oscar testing Adrian after just 8 minutes with a curled effort from the edge of the box which the Spaniard tipped onto the bar. Minutes later and West Ham had their first opportunity, Tomkins' header drawing a good save from Petr Cech after Stewart Downing had whipped in a free-kick. A fast-paced opening quarter of an hour was rounded off when Samuel Eto'o blazed over from the edge of the box, after Eden Hazard had headed down Branislav Ivanovic's through-ball. Following the 15 minute mark, the pace of the derby encounter began to slow with Chelsea dominating possession but unable to carve out any real openings. Mikel and Ramires both squandered efforts from outside the box as the Blues endeavoured to breakdown their stubborn visitors. However the Hammers' impressive defensive performance was marred on the half hour mark, Mohamed Diame forced off after sustaining a freak injury when he went over the advertising board and into the crowd. With the first half drawing to a close the Blues attacking intent increased, John Terry and Samuel Eto'o drawing smart saves out of Adrian as the Hammers held out for the break. After boasting 71% possession in the first 45 minutes, Chelsea began the second half determined to find a way past Sam Allardyce's frustrating game plan. Willian and Oscar were the hosts' main source of attacking creativity, both players were whipping in dangerous balls but no one was getting onto the end of them. It was turning into a case of attack versus defence as West Ham dropped deeper and deeper in their battle against the Chelsea onslaught. Despite Mourinho's side dominating proceedings the Hammers very nearly took a surprise lead, Downing beating his man down the left and crossing for Carroll, but the striker scuffed his shot from six yards out. With 30 minutes left Chelsea continued to lay siege to the West Ham goal, with Lampard and Hazard forcing more heroic blocks from the Hammers' defenders. The frustration was evident for all, Mourinho's gesticulations echoed by the Stamford Bridge faithful, annoyed at their team's inability to find the net. As the game moved into the final 10 minutes Chelsea brought on Demba Ba in a final attempt to try and secure all three points. The Senegalese forward very nearly scored the winning goal for Chelsea as he hit the post in the dying minutes of injury-time, but the Hammers held out to pick up a valuable point in their fight for survival. The draw means Chelsea fail to leapfrog Arsenal into second place, while West Ham move to within two points of safety.