Chelsea have maintained their five-point cushion at the top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 victory away at West Ham United.

In a London derby played at a frenetic pace, Eden Hazard's early header proved to be the difference as Jose Mourinho's team took a step closer to the title.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce will be delighted with his side's efforts, but their failure to equalise has heaped the pressure on his role at the club.

Below, Sports Mole takes a look at how the 90 minutes unfolded at Upton Park.

Match statistics

WEST HAM UNITED
Shots: 18
On target: 5
Possession: 44%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 10

CHELSEA
Shots: 12
On target: 3
Possession: 56%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 10

Was the result fair?

Everyone connected with West Ham will be adamant that they deserved three points, never mind just one, but from a Chelsea perspective, they had to show that they were capable of digging deep to grind out a result after the highs of the Capital One Cup final, and they passed with flying colours. West Ham created 18 attempts on goal during the match - a figure not normally registered when Chelsea are the opposition - but only five found the target, and each one was dealt with by the impressive Thibaut Courtois.

West Ham United's performance

Allardyce would have been fuming with West Ham's showing against Crystal Palace at the weekend, but the players took note of their manager's frustration and delivered a performance full of determination and endeavour. Cheikhou Kouyate and Kevin Nolan were superb in the middle of the park, as was Carl Jenkinson who produced an attack-minded display from right-back. Questions will be asked about how Hazard was able to score with a header, but despite the result, there was plenty for Allardyce and the club's supporters to take from this game. On another night, they would have been leaving with three points against the league leaders.

Chelsea's performance

Coming off the back of their League Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur, there was the danger that Chelsea may be a little jaded, but this was a performance that only highlighted their desire to end the season as Premier League champions. From an attacking perspective, it was subdued at times, but that was mainly due to the pressure applied by their opponents. It was in defence where much of the credit was earned as the Blues, thanks to an inspired showing from Courtois, kept the Hammers at bay, with the 22-year-old being well backed up by John Terry and Gary Cahill. This wasn't the perfect display by any means, but tonight was all about registering three points and that's what Chelsea did.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Thibaut Courtois: Any number of the Chelsea backline could have picked up this award, but it has to go to the young Belgian stopper, who looked motivated to send a message to his manager that he was the first-choice goalkeeper at the club. He wasn't called into action too many times in the second period, but his two saves from Kouyate and Sakho proved decisive by the final whistle. Cahill and Terry deserve a mention too.

Biggest gaffe

Unusually for a Premier League match played at such blistering speed, notable gaffes weren't present during the 90 minutes. You could argue that Sakho should really have scored with a header during the first half, but that miss was more down to the brilliance of Courtois rather than the forward's lack of conviction in the penalty area.

Referee performance

Referees have hit the back pages for all of the wrong reasons in recent weeks but Andre Marriner delivered an assured performance on Wednesday evening. Game-changing decisions weren't required, but when the official was called into action, he generally got things correct. None of the seven bookings could be questioned by either manager.

What next?

West Ham United: After their exit from the FA Cup at the fifth-round stage, West Ham don't return to action until a week on Saturday when they travel to the Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal.

Chelsea: Chelsea will use a free weekend to try to prepare for their Champions League second-leg encounter with Paris Saint-Germain.