The Hammers beat Chelsea 2-1 at the London Stadium to book their place in the quarter finals of the EFL Cup.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic gestures
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has hailed his side for executing the “perfect gameplan” as they beat Chelsea 2-1 in the EFL Cup on Wednesday evening.
Bilic was speaking to the club’s official website as goals from Cheikhou Kouyate and a stunning strike from Edmilson Fernandes booked The Hammers’ passage through to the quarter finals of the competition.
Gary Cahill tapped in a consolation for the visitors as a difficult evening overwrought with tension threatened to boil over at the London Stadium, but trouble was quickly cleared up as West Ham earned a deserved victory and a third win in a row.
Progress in the League Cup coupled with a morale-boosting win over Chelsea and back-to-back Premier League wins eases the pressure off Bilic who saw his side lose five of their opening six league games.
West Ham United’s Edimilson Fernandes celebrates scoring their second goal with team mates
A switch to three at the back seems to have worked wonders for the Croatian as West Ham have toughened up defensively with two clean sheets in their last three games.
And they kept a spirited Chelsea side at bay for long periods at Stratford with Bilic hailing his team for sticking to his instructions and frustrating The Blues.
“We played really good,” he said. “It was a great atmosphere, a cup game, night game, London derby, and Chelsea are a great team who have hit great form recently.
“We had a game plan and the guys executed it almost perfectly. We were great in the first half and really good in the second half and when we had to defend, we defended in numbers and we were good at keeping the ball.
West Ham United’s Cheikhou Kouyate celebrates scoring their first goal
“In transition we hurt them and could have scored more. It was a great win and a great performance and it was good to beat Chelsea.”
With the League Cup quarter finals featuring the usual big sides, West Ham take on Manchester United at Old Trafford who edged past Manchester City 1-0 courtesy of Juan Mata’s well-taken goal.
Jose Mourinho’s side have blown hot and cold so far this season but still pack a powerful punch that could easily knock Dimitri Payet and co. out of the cup.
Yet Bilic remains optimistic of his chances at besting The Red Devils and climbing the league table as long as his side deliver another performance in the same vein as Wednesday night.
Chelsea’s Willian in action with West Ham United’s Angelo Ogbonna
“You never know in a cup” he continued. We approached this competition with great ambition, that was obvious. If we play like this, we are capable of progressing.
“This is not only important for the competition but also for the Premier League. It gives you more confidence. We will be a little bit tired on the training ground, but then it’s going to be buzzing and from that we will be less tired.
“Now we have most our players back fit, we can do it, as a unit and a team. Now we have three wins on the spin.
“It’s always going to be ups and downs but we need to focus like we have done. I’m very optimistic of course.”
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
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