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Perhaps it was inevitable that Thomas Tuchel’s undefeated start would end at the hands of Sam Allardyce. After tidying up his first few months at Chelsea, Tuchel saw it all fall apart against a manager who loves nothing more than to prove his tactical mettle against highly reputed foreign coaches.
This was the Premier League at its rebellious, crazy and utterly illogical prime. Consider the bare facts. Chelsea came into this game protecting a 14-game unbeaten streak and hoped to take another step towards qualifying for the Champions League. West Brom, who had won two of Allardyce’s first 16 games in charge, had already been written off as relegation certainties.
Everything changed in the space of 90 minutes. Chelsea could have no complaints after being outscored by Allardyce, the Premier League’s greatest survival expert, and will come out of the top four if Tottenham win at Newcastle on Sunday or West Ham win at Wolves on Monday. They were a disaster in all respects and West Brom punished their failures, responding to the undeserved starter Christian Pulisic and moving up seven points behind Newcastle, who are in 17th place thanks to an inspired performance by Matheus Pereira.
It wasn’t just Thiago Silva’s red card in the 29th minute. Although West Brom’s five goals came against 10 men, Chelsea were uncomfortable before losing Silva. Rather than view the Brazilian’s expulsion as an isolated moment of disgrace, Tuchel admitted that it was a consequence of Chelsea’s struggles with and without the ball.
Tuchel could see the warning signs early on, raising his arms in the air as Chelsea struggled with pressure from West Brom. Usually so cool in his role as quarterback, Jorginho ended up posing more danger to his own team than to the opponent. The midfielder’s pass was interrupted and he was involved in one of the game’s key moments when he gifted possession to Pereira, who beat Kurt Zouma before being brought down by Silva on the edge of the area.
It was a slow challenge from Silva, starting for the first time since February 4 after recovering from a groin injury, and the veteran was lucky that the VAR did not improve his yellow card for denying him a scoring opportunity.
Chelsea looked unfocused, distracted, playing aimlessly until Pulisic won a free kick in the 27th minute. Marcos Alonso threw it over the wall and although Sam Johnstone tipped the ball to the left post, Pulisic rebounded to claim his first goal since December 5.
That should have been the signal for Chelsea, who face Porto in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, to relax. However, they imploded two minutes later, offering West Brom a chance to attack more recklessly. The ball broke for Okay Yokuslu and Silva came in hard after the Turkish midfielder fired, earning a second yellow.
Tuchel adjusted after dropping to 10 men, eliminating Hakim Ziyech and bringing Andreas Christensen to the bottom three. Chelsea tried to use the pace of Timo Werner and Pulisic at halftime and they threatened in bursts, Johnstone twice denied Reece James.
Callum Robinson became the latest player to be subjected to racist abuse online last night. West Brom said they had reported the Instagram posts to the police, adding: “It is deeply disturbing that scoring two goals in a soccer game could provoke such a reaction. There is no place for racism. Anywhere. Challenge it, inform it, change it. “
However, Chelsea, who had conceded two goals in Tuchel’s first 14 matches, forgot how to defend. After starting in a 5-4-1 system, Allardyce was able to make an attack switch when Branislav Ivanovic pulled his hamstring 13 minutes after replacing the injured Dara O’Shea. Although Ivanovic was disappointed to limp against his former club, the 37-year-old’s retirement allowed Allardyce to introduce another attacker, Callum Robinson.
West Brom had more options in the final third and tied when Zouma misjudged a Johnstone long kick in added time in the first half. Pereira ran after the Chelsea defender before launching Édouard Mendy.
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Chelsea was in disarray, running away when Matt Phillips hit the bar, and there was time for West Brom to score again before the break. Again it was Pereira who inflicted the damage, dancing in space in the area before aiming a compound low shot past Mendy.
Tuchel attempted to wake up his team by introducing Mason Mount at halftime. However, as Kovacic whistled a drive, West Brom maintained his composure. They kept attacking and broke apart in the 63rd minute, Robinson volleying brilliantly off a Darnell Furlong cross.
West Brom didn’t end there, adding a fourth when Mbaye Diagne finished off a fluid move. Mount responded, tapping after a good job from Werner, but Robinson had the last word, defeating Mendy in overtime to complete Chelsea’s humiliation. Allardyce, who has never been relegated from the top flight, could celebrate a famous victory.
