So, both of today’s big London derbies ended in convincing wins for the home sides. And whilst a note of caution should always be sounded when attempting to draw significant conclusions from an isolated result, events at Stamford Bridge and the Den could have far-reaching implications for all the sides involved during the rest of the season.
After 2 defeats in their last 3 Premier League games, Chelsea desperately needed a convincing result and performance at home to West Ham, to banish the memories of Manchester City’s victory at Stamford Bridge a couple of weeks back. The 4-1 win was ideal preparation for the visit of Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday; with 2 goals, Didier Drogba was again a huge threat and Florent Malouda’s form makes him a genuine world class performer right now. This season will have shown the Blues not to take anything for granted but they look back on track at a key point in the campaign.
The same sadly can’t be said for West Ham – heads dropped after going behind for a second time, the defence is leaking goals and the frontline fielded at Stamford Bridge just didn’t look good enough. Having appeared to be edging clear of danger a few weeks ago Gianfranco Zola’s side are right back in danger now and with a trip to the Emirates next on the agenda the confidence which took so long to build is unlikely to return as quickly as it seems to have been lost.
The other big derby was of course at the Den and although Charlton remain a point ahead of Millwall in the League One table, it’s the Lions who look most likely to mount a late challenge for automatic promotion after their thumping 4-0 win. They’re still 6 points behind Leeds but on current form you can’t write off Kenny Jackett’s side. They’ve 9 of their last 11 games as Leeds falter badly and if they can maintain this momentum anything is possible. The effect on Charlton’s season remains to be seen. If possible Phil Parkinson will just want to write this one off as a bad day at the office, but the comprehensive nature of their defeat and the fact it came at their bitter rivals and neighbours mean that may be impossible – the Addicks currently look like they’ll have to settle for the play-offs if they’re to get promotion – and there’s still work to do yet to even secure that top 6 spot.