A wholly unexpected point at home that could well have been three had the referee not taken notice of a bad decision by the linesman who flagged for a foul by Matthew Upson that never was.
Mike Dean, surely realising his mistake, made Frank Lampard take the penalty three times because of encroachment by Chelsea players but Jnr. held his nerve and scored all three times to earn Chelsea a draw and give England's 2010 World Cup hopes a boost.
Prior to that Diamanti had put the Hammers ahead from the spot just before half-time after Jack Collison had been brought down by Ashley Cole. After Chelsea drew level, it might have been thought that West Ham would struggle but the home side were more than a match for the visitors leaving Gianfranco Zola fully satisfied with a battling display and an unexpected Christmas boost that at least ensured the club were not bottom at the beginning of the festive period.
Born at an early age a mere defenders' spit from the Boleyn ground, Billy Blagg has seen every West Ham game from 1898 onwards. Blagg was mentioned by Kenneth Wolstenholme in 1966 as one of the people on the pitch during the famous Hammers win over West Germany that lifted the World Cup and he returned to the pitch again for the 1975 FA Cup Final but stayed on the terrace for 1980 FA Cup victory. Blagg, 26, now lives with his eighth wife and innumerable children in a small semi-detached with chintz curtains in Dagenham, Essex and still attends every Hammers match and training session.
Born at an early age a mere defenders' spit from the Boleyn ground, Billy Blagg has seen every West Ham game from 1898 onwards. Blagg was mentioned by Kenneth Wolstenholme in 1966 as one of the people on the pitch during the famous Hammers win over West Germany that lifted the World Cup and he returned to the pitch again for the 1975 FA Cup Final but stayed on the terrace for 1980 FA Cup victory. Blagg, 26, now lives with his eighth wife and innumerable children in a small semi-detached with chintz curtains in Dagenham, Essex and still attends every Hammers match and training session.
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