Gary Neville hails West Ham star who ‘ripped Chelsea apart’ in first-half, he’s ‘in dreamland’
If there was one moment which summed up the two sides during an enthralling first half between West Ham United and Chelsea, it was as the ball reached the feet of Alejandro Garnacho under pressure from Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
The former Manchester United winger looked up and, with his one-time Old Trafford teammate breathing down his neck, saw little to no options present themselves.
Garnacho rolled the ball harmlessly back into his own half and, with a frustrated waft of the arms, trudged away frustrated.
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To say Aaron Wan-Bissaka got the better of Chelsea’s £40 million summer signing would be quite the understatement. The rampaging West Ham United right-back swung Garnacho around by the ankle and slammed him into the ground again and again, like Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk making mincemeat of Tom Hiddlestone’s bruised Loki.
Wan-Bissaka played a key role in Jarrod Bowen’s opener at Stamford Bridge. And, on a day when El Hadji Malick Diouf was the only change from last week’s 3-1 beating of Sunderland, Crysencio Summerville joined Bowen in a very exclusive club just before the break. A gorgeous first-time volley – following a fine cross from, guess who?, the man known as ‘AWB’ – ensured he would become only the fourth West Ham player to score in four successive games since Tony Cottee in 1986.
Gary Neville blown away by Aaron Wan-Bissaka as West Ham United stun Chelsea
Gary Neville, arguably the finest and certainly the most successful right-back of the Premier League era, could not speak highly enough of Wan-Bissaka during what was surely West Ham’s best 45 minutes in recent memory.
And that is saying something, considering just how good Nuno’s side were seven days prior.
“Big smiles all round and two or three thousand West Ham fans going wild!,” Neville said on Sky Sports seconds after Bowen’s cross nestled in the Chelsea goal. “It didn’t get a touch.
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
“Wan-Bissaka does well initially. He just steps off Garnacho and I’m thinking, ‘just put it in there,’ but he doesn’t – he places a nice little pass [to Bowen].”
Pablo stretched in an attempt to reach Bowen’s searching cross. He failed to make contact but the damage, as far as Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez is concerned, was done.
“I think that Pablo maybe just confuses Sanchez, makes him hesitate because he steps back and he can’t get across. He’s thinking the big centre-forward is going to get a touch, and it kicks off the ground and it’s past him!” Neville adds.
“You just felt that with Chelsea making seven changes, and West Ham having a week to prepare – they’re in better form – it was going to be an awkward fixture.
“From the first minute of this game, in these types of [midfield and wide] areas, West Ham have been really good at sprinting off. Good counter-attacking. They’ve looked really dangerous. They’ve had some great chances.”
Summerville does something only three Hammers have done before! ⚽⚽⚽⚽
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Crysencio Summerville scores a screamer at Stamford Bridge
Wan-Bissaka’s assist for Summerville’s effort in the 36th minute was his first of the 2025/26 campaign.
“Garnacho had one-two’d Wan-Bissaka in the first confrontation down this right-hand side, but Wan-Bissaka got him back a couple of minutes later,” said an awe-struck Neville, an eight-time Premier League winner at Old Trafford.
“[Garnacho’s] first touch is going back, which is encouraging Wan-Bissaka to go and pick it off him. He’s not confident, Garnacho, is he? He is not confident. When you see him at his best, he goes directly at the full-back, but that’s not what we are watching.
“It’s a disease, [Chelsea constantly] going back to the goalkeeper. You’ve got to create a situation where you punch those balls into midfield, pull [Mateus] Fernandes and [Tomas] Soucek out. Going back is just the easy option.
“They’ve got to get Garnacho, Delap, and Gittens going. [Garnacho’s] first touch is back all the time. From a right-back’s perspective, I’m absolutely in dreamland.
“I’m going to be all over him like a rash!
“There are quite widespread boos from around the ground. Down this [right-hand] side, they have been torn to shreds. They have absolutely ripped Chelsea apart. They are very lucky not to be 3-0 down. Wan-Bissaka is having the time of his life out there!”
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