(Video): Joao Pedro muscles his way to equaliser after Chelsea’s corner routine | OneFootball

Chelsea are back level at the London Stadium in a thrilling start to a game which has seen two goals and one disallowed.

Blues strike back with corner from big man up top

Joao Pedro celebrates a preseason goal. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Set piece coach Bernardo Cueva didn’t have to dig deep in his bag of tricks for this one – it was a simple routine where players crowded the near post to clear space for JP to attack the far. Marc Cucurella got the flick on and the first contact, then Joao Pedro towered above two markers to head the ball into the exposed net.

That’s his 4th in 5 games.

We were excited to face a West Ham team who looked pretty feeble in their opening day 3-0 loss to Sunderland, and so far we’re seeing just what we hoped. A weak and hesitant defence with no leadership waiting to be picked apart. Graham Potter is not inspiring anyone, it seems.

You can see the goal in the clips embedded here:

[Footage from Sky Sports]

[Footage from Canal Plus]

Chelsea need to go through the gears to win this game

This was a nice way to get back into it, and a great example of how Joao Pedro’s extra height can help us at set pieces at both ends.

But so far between this game’s first half and the Crystal Palace game we’ve seen very few attacking moments of quality. The team needs to play better in possession. Hopefully this goal settles them down.

We can still win this game, but we won’t win much this season unless we find some flow through midfield into the front 3. Still, this shaky West Ham team are the perfect side to face to find your groove. Let’s hope we can take advantage.