West Ham United have won only twice in six attempts at Upton Park this season and this was another impoverished performance against Chelsea yesterday. Their early goal partly explained their defensiveness for the remainder of the match but hardly how they backed away as humbly as ushers and beckoned Chelsea's exotic circus of players to control midfield.

This was one of Chelsea's most vivid away displays of the season and their only morsel of good fortune was when West Ham's Eyal Berkovic, in the 88th minute, struck a vicious left-foot drive against the inside of the right post and saw it rebound.

It is reasonable to assume that West Ham missed the injured trio of John Hartson, Andy Impey and Stan Lazaridis more than Chelsea did their suspended defenders Frank Leboeuf and Michael Duberry, even at full strength, however, West Ham should have been undone by Chelsea's pure flair. The solitary point was not the only disappointment for Chelsea. Pierluigi Casiraghi, the forward they signed from Lazio for £5.4 million, was carried off with what appeared to be a serious knee injury after he tangled with the goalkeeper Shaka Hislop and Rio Ferdinand.

West Ham took the lead in the fourth minute when Berkovic was fouled by Marcel Desailly. The Israeli rolled the free-kick to Neil Ruddock whose thumping low shot beat Ed de Goey on his right. If De Goey had not been at his best - which is very good indeed - eight minutes later, when he made an outstanding save from Paul Kitson's header after a corner on the left taken by Berkovic, even this Chelsea side would have struggled to come back. From that moment the balance of power shifted in the direction of the away side and they should have made more of it.

They failed to convert a sackful of chances until, after 75 minutes, Chelsea finally netted the equaliser. From a corner on the right Mark Nicholls headed on, Tore Andre Flo got a shoulder to it and Celestine Babayaro finally forced the ball over the line.

West Ham: Hislop, Ruddock, Ferdinand, Pearce, Lomas, Lampard, Sinclair, Keller, Berkovic (Potts 87), Kitson, Wright. Subs Not Used: Sealey, Omoyimni, Breacker, Abou. Booked: Lomas. Goals: Ruddock 4.

Chelsea: De Goey, Babayaro, Desailly, Poyet, Casiraghi (Flo 24), Wise, Le Saux, Di Matteo (Petrescu 46), Ferrer, Lambourde, Zola (Nicholls 66). Subs Not Used: Hitchcock, Terry. Booked: Poyet. Goals: Babayaro 76.

Referee: G Barber (Pyrford).