Avram Grant will always suffer in comparison with José Mourinho, not least because of his inability to find clothes that fit him, although this victory would have made even his predecessor proud. Out of sorts and running out of gas after their Champions League exertions in midweek, Chelsea found a way to win with a goal straight out of the Mourinho manual.

Grant will not have received any marks for artistic impression from the only judge that matters – Roman Abramovich, the club’s billionaire owner – although the three points could prove valuable at the end of the season as his team climbed to second. Joe Cole produced the one moment of quality to score his first goal against his former club, seizing on a long clearance by Carlo Cudicini that was flicked on by Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, in a clinical demonstration of route one that showed that Chelsea can still win ugly.

“These are the games where Manchester United and Arsenal will have been looking for us to drop points,” Cole said. “If we’re going to go on and win things we’ve got to win these games. We’ve got to come away from Europe and win games and carry on through Christmas.”

Such were Chelsea’s travails during a tedious first half that the taciturn Grant even felt compelled to raise his voice during the interval. “We got a bit of a telling-off,” Cole said. “The manager told us we weren’t good enough, we weren’t sharp enough. We know in ourselves when we’re playing well and when we’re not. We were shouted at, but came through in the end, which is the sign of a good team.”

Having found Mourinho’s hair-dryer, Grant proceeded to parrot his predecessor in other respects, bemoaning West Ham United’s physical approach, even though Kalou and John Obi Mikel could have been sent off for two horrendous tackles.

“They played very, very physically,” Grant said. “I think they deserved more yellow cards than they got, but the referee basically did his job in what was a very, very difficult game.”

For once Alan Curbishley, the West Ham manager, came up with a suitable response, entering the debate over Grant’s effectiveness by comparing him with Gary Megson. “He’s been put in a position where he’s got a big, big club on his hands, so perhaps he feels he has to make some big, big statements,” Curbishley said. “I don’t think he’s changed too much, he’s just said get on with it. I think he’s come in and done what Gary Megson’s done.”

For a self-appointed style icon – in the world of football, if not fashion – such a damning verdict must hurt.

Chelsea (4-3-3): C Cudicini 5 – J Belletti 5, Alex 4, J Terry 6, W Bridge 6 – S Sidwell 5 (sub: S Wright-Phillips 66 5), J O Mikel 4, F Lampard 5 – J Cole 6 (sub: C Makelele, 89), D Drogba 5, S Kalou 5. Substitutes not used: Hilário, A Shevchenko, T Ben-Haim. Booked: Mikel, Kalou, Belletti, Lampard, Terry. Next: Sunderland (h).

West Ham United (4411): R Green 6 – L Neill 5, D Gabbidon 5, M Upson 6, G McCartney 5 – N Solano 5 (sub: F Ljungberg, 74), S Parker 6 (sub: J Spector, 79), H Mullins 5, M Etherington 5 (sub: D Ashton, 79) – L Boa Morte 5, C Cole 6. Substitutes not used: R Wright, J Collins. Booked: Etherington, Solano, Boa Morte. Next: Blackburn(a).

Referee H Webb
Attendance 41,830