Struggling West Bromwich Albion caused a big Premier League shock on Saturday by winning 5-2 at fourth-place Chelsea after the home team had Thiago Silva sent off in the first half at Stamford Bridge.
The experienced Brazilian defender Silva was back in the side, following an injury absence, for the first time in 10 matches but was shown the red card in the 29th minute following two bookings.
It was German coach Thomas Tuchel’s first defeat at Chelsea and came in his 15th game in charge.
US striker Christian Pulisic picked up his first Chelsea goal since Dec. 5 to put his team in front in the 27th minute, only to see Matheus Pereira strike twice in two minutes in first-half stoppage time to give second-bottom West Bromwich, which almost needs a miracle to avoid relegation, a 2-1 lead at the interval.
Callum Robinson grabbed a third goal for West Bromwich when he swept home a cross from Darnell Furlong in the 63rd minute.
Mason Mount tapped in from close range after good work by Timo Werner to give hope to Chelsea, which meets Porto in a Champions League quarter-final first leg in Seville on Wednesday.
But Mbaye Diagne drilled in a low shot to put West Bromwich 4-2 up and Robinson clipped the ball over goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to complete a surprise scoreline in the closing stages.
“It was a tough first half for us,” Pulisic said. “We made some simple mistakes we don't normally make. The red card changes everything. To give them credit, they played their attacks really well. It's no time to panic. We've been in good form and lost one game.”
For West Bromwich, it was the team's first win at Stamford Bridge since 1978. “Our goals were all quality goals, not just the finishing but the build-ups,” manager Sam Allardyce said. “It's just a bit of a shame we didn't show this quality in some other games.
“This still gives us a bit of hope. We've got a long wait until the next game with Southampton a week on Monday.
