Captain Enzo Fernandez’s stoppage-time winner capped Chelsea’s thrilling fightback from two goals down to beat West Ham United 3-2 in a dramatic London derby on Saturday.
Liam Rosenior’s side trailed to first-half goals from Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville at Stamford Bridge.
But Chelsea ignored the half-time jeers from their angry fans, staging a brilliant revival after the break.
Joao Pedro reduced the deficit before Marc Cucurella headed the equaliser.
For the first time in the Premier League era, Chelsea came from two down at half-time to win thanks to their captain as Fernandez netted in stoppage-time.
West Ham’s Jean-Clair Todibo was sent off for violent conduct after tempers boiled over in the final seconds.
In what Rosenior had labelled Chelsea’s “biggest match of the season”, the Blues showed their character in memorable fashion.
They climbed to fourth in the Premier League as Rosenior became only the fourth English manager to win his first three Premier League games after Bobby Gould, Sam Allardyce and Craig Shakespeare.
Rosenior has overseen six wins from seven games in all competitions since arriving from Strasbourg to replace Enzo Maresca.
The highlight of Rosenior’s impressive start had come on Wednesday when the Blues fought back from 2-1 down to beat Napoli 3-2 in Italy, securing a place in the Champions League last 16.
But this was arguably even more eye-catching than that success, given how Rosenior turned the tide after Chelsea’s wretched first half.
Rosenior will bid to work another miracle on Tuesday when Chelsea look to overturn a 3-2 deficit in the League Cup semi-final second leg at Premier League leaders Arsenal.
– From boos to bedlam –
He made seven changes after the victory in Naples, with Cole Palmer back in the starting line-up after starring from the bench in midweek.
Chelsea looked out of sync following the reshuffle and West Ham took advantage to go ahead in the seventh minute.
