West Ham 1-2 Chelsea: Premier League as it happened

Full-time: West Ham 1-2 Chelsea

22.09: That is all from me for now, thanks for following along and apologies for the slightly unusual manner in which this blog was presented. Be sure to stay tuned to IBTimes UK for post-match reaction from Eduardo Fernandez-Abascal, who is at the London Stadium for us tonight. The thoughts of both Bilic and Conte to come.

We will be back tomorrow to bring you live coverage of Arsenal as they attempt to overturn a daunting 5-1 deficit in their Champions League last-16 second-leg tie against reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. Real Madrid are also in action in Naples.

Until then, farewell.

22.07: West Ham, meanwhile, remain 11th and are now without a win in their last three matches. They travel to Bournemouth on Saturday before hosting a Leicester City side that appear to have turned a corner under caretaker boss Craig Shakespeare.

22.02: A thoroughly comfortable evening's work for Chelsea, despite that last-gasp Lanzini consolation strike. A 21st win of the season in the Premier League sends them 10 points clear of second-place Tottenham, although Manchester City, currently sitting third, can whittle that gap back down to eight if they overcome Stoke City at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

Next up for the Blues is the small matter of an FA Cup quarter-final tie against Jose Mourinho and Manchester United a week from tonight. Their next two top-flight matches are against Stoke and Crystal Palace respectively.

21.55: Full-time

West Ham 1-2 Chelsea

21.55: A long punt forward is headed on by Carroll before being hacked away, much to Conte's relief. West Ham have run out of time.

21.54: Have we spoken too soon? A loose pass towards Fabregas is picked off by Carroll. Substitute Ayew then charges forward and ignores the run of Snodgrass before setting up Lanzini for a tidy low finish.

West Ham have around a minute to find another goal that would see them rescue the most unlikely of points.

21.52: Goal: West Ham 1-2 Chelsea (Manuel Lanzini)

21.50: Three minutes of added time have been signalled by the fourth official. This one is surely over bar the shouting.

21.49: Azpilicueta just about does enough to ensure that Carroll does not make contact with Ayew's searching delivery. Courtois probably could and should have come to alleviate the pressure on his defence there.

21.45: An irritated Costa goes down holding his left shin but fails to win a free-kick. Willian's latest shot is deflected wide and a short corner is eventually cleared by Kouyate after a back-post cross from Fabregas fails to find Matic.

21.41: Chelsea's players are queuing up to add a third, but Costa's chipped pass is too hard for Alonso. Azpilicueta and Willian combine to set up Fabregas, who shoots well over under pressure from Fonte.

The champions-elect are not content to merely sit on their healthy lead.

21.39: Some are suggesting that Hazard pointed to his hamstring before making his way to the bench. That will be a big worry for Conte if so.

21.36: After a stellar defensive display, Moses makes way for Kurt Zouma. Bilic's final substitution sees Fernandes come on for Noble.

Just under 15 minutes plus stoppage time left to be played in east London.

21.33: Noble fools a hopping Azpilicueta and wins a corner off Moses that is gratefully claimed by Courtois. Hazard receives a hearty round of applause from the travelling supporters as he walks off to be replaced by Willian.

21.30: No claret and blue shirts gamble on Carroll's latest flick-on and Obiang gets his shot all wrong. It's been a frustrating night for the Hammers.

21.27: Costa combines nicely with Hazard and turns Kouyate before being denied his second goal of the night by an impressive flying save from Randolph. Azpilicueta then shoots well wide.

21.23: A double change from Bilic sees Ayew and Sam Byram replace Feghouli and Reid, the latter of whom limps off. Conte withdraws Pedro in favour of Matic.

21.21: West Ham enjoy arguably their best attacking spell of the evening so far. Moses is in the right place at the right time to block a goal-bound Feghouli shot and Jose Fonte then heads over after being teed up by a lofted cross from centre-back partner Reid.

21.18: A back-pedalling Courtois unconvincingly paws at Snodgrass' deceptive cross and just about gets enough on it. 30 minutes remaining for West Ham to get back into this match.

21.16: Carroll opens up that sizable frame and bends a curling effort over the top.

21.14: Alonso surges forward and nearly adds a third for Chelsea as his inventive chip shot drifts just wide of the far post. The marauding Spanish wing-back claims that he was fouled by a sliding Reid, but his complaints fall on deaf ears.

21.13: Lanzini shoots wide and Fabregas appears to handle a cross inside his own box. That could easily have been a penalty.

21.11: Barring an unlikely second-half collapse, Chelsea are set to open up a 10-point gap over nearest rivals Tottenham. Conte's men win a corner after a quick counter that involves a sumptuous and lesser-spotted back flick from Hazard.

Fabregas' corner is headed on by Pedro Obiang at the front post and Costa gets in front of Reid to knee home hi 17th goal of the season from about four yards out.

West Ham have a mountain to climb now.

21.10: West Ham 0-2 Chelsea (Diego Costa)

21.07: Uncharacteristically sloppy play from Kante to gift possession to Noble. Cesar Azpilicueta blocks Snodgrass' centre and West Ham are unable to create anything from the subsequent corner.

21.05: We are back underway in Stratford. No changes to report from either manager just yet.

21.01: Supporters seem to be behaving themselves thus far, aside from one West Ham fan who tried to run onto the pitch after that Hazard goal. He was stopped by stewards.

20.56: Kante is rightly receiving plenty of plaudits at the break. He has been magnificent thus far.

20.52: Hazard's ruthless counter-attacking goal is the difference between these London rivals at the break. How many times have we seen Chelsea score goals of that ilk on their relentless title pursuit?

20.49: Half-time

West Ham 0-1 Chelsea

20.48: Chelsea spring forward on the counter once more but somehow fail to work a shooting opportunity. West Ham then try to hit back before half-time, only for Luiz to intercept Lanzini's pass towards Carroll.

20.46: Four minutes of added time will be played at the end of this first half. Fabregas receives the evening's first yellow card after a cynical bodycheck on Cresswell, who does not seem to be feeling the effects of that ankle. A free-kick floated in towards Carroll comes to nothing.

20.44: Incredible speed and perseverance from Kante, who chases a lost cause and keeps Chelsea's latest attack alive. However, Hazard's sweeping pass for Moses lacks accuracy and a corner is well intercepted by Randolph.

20.43 : Cresswell looks to be in some discomfort after blocking that Moses effort with his ankle. He will require treatment off the pitch. West Ham are temporarily reduced to 10 men.

20.42: Chelsea come close to doubling their advantage. Costa produces an air shot after Hazard's low cross goes through the legs of Reid and Cresswell then blocks Moses' follow-up attempt. Pedro lashes a third attempt on goal that is well saved by Randolph.

20.41: Lanzini smashes a shot into orbit after a neat give-and-go with Noble. A poor lack of composure from the Argentine.

20.40: Nothing doing for West Ham just at the moment as they try to create space for an equaliser. Key playmaker Lanzini is currently being hounded by Fabregas.

20.35: A nervy few seconds for Courtois as he almost handles the ball outside of his penalty area.

20.31: "You're not West Ham anymore" sing the away fans as Fabregas' lofted pass for Pedro is taken by Randolph.

20.27: Having done most of the early running, West Ham are cut to ribbons by an incisive counter-attack. Noble opts to knock the ball wide instead of producing a cross into the box and his weak pass is seized upon by Kante.

The tireless Frenchman bursts forward and finds Hazard, who plays a lovely one-two with Pedro before using a frightening burst of pace to round Darren Randolph and slot home the opening goal.

Simply devastating.

20.26: Goal: West Ham 0-1 Chelsea (Eden Hazard)

20.24: Cahill rises highest to head clear an inviting left-wing cross from Aaron Cresswell that was intended for, yep, you guessed it, Carroll. Manuel Lanzini thrashes a free-kick into the wall after Mark Noble is barged over by Hazard.

20.22: West Ham win a free-kick in a central position after Carroll is felled by an over-eager N'Golo Kante. The set-piece is initially taken too quickly for the referee's liking and a second attempt from Snodgrass is easily caught by Courtois.

20.19: Bilic's side, perhaps unsurprisingly with Carroll back in the fold, are peppering the Chelsea box with cross after cross. Gary Cahill heads one corner behind before a lovely whipped delivery from Snodgrass just misses Carroll and is nodded away by Moses.

20.16: West Ham apply pressure down both flanks, willed on by a vocal home support. Snodgrass' disappointing low cross evades Carroll before being claimed by Courtois after some nervy defending from Luiz.

20.14: Robert Snodgrass makes good progress down the West Ham left before being stopped in his tracks. At the other end, Marcos Alonso drifts in behind a careless Feghouli but the pass towards him is overhit.

20.09: The game restarts after a lengthy stoppage. Thibaut Courtois punches the subsequent corner clear before the skillful Hazard tries to launch a counter-attack.

20.06: Alert defending from Victor Moses to head Sofiane Feghouli's dangerous cross away from the lurking Carroll. The latter appeared to accidentally headbutt his marker there and will require treatment for a bloody nose.

20.03:

20.01: Chelsea almost breach West Ham's backline straightaway. David Luiz sends an excellent long pass beyond Winston Reid, but Pedro is unable to control and the ball rolls out of play for a goal kick.

20.00: Referee Andre Marriner gets proceedings underway. West Ham will kick from left to right in this first half, with Chelsea sporting their black and grey hooped third shirts with luminous trim.

19.58: The teams have emerged from the tunnel. Kick-off is now just a few moments away.

19.50: Chelsea are unchanged from their 3-1 win over Swansea City, with Cesc Fabregas deservedly retaining his place ahead of Nemanja Matic in Conte's midfield after marking his 300th top-flight outing with a goal. Conte still has the luxury of a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Eden Hazard received a painful kick during training last week but was never expected to miss this game.

19.48: The big news for West Ham involves the return of Andy Carroll after two weeks out with a groin issue. The towering striker, just one goal away from his Premier League half-century, replaces Michail Antonio, who serves an automatic one-match suspension after picking up two yellow cards in last week's 1-1 draw at Watford.

Diafra Sakho, Angelo Ogbonna and Gokhan Tore remain sidelined due to injury.

19.45:

19.44:

19.37: Tonight will be the third meeting between these two sides so far this season. In Antonio Conte's first competitive match in charge at Stamford Bridge in August, Diego Costa, who shoyuld arguably have been sent off, netted a controversial late 20-yard winner for Chelsea after Eden Hazard's penalty had been cancelled out by James Collins. Hammers record signing Andre Ayew sustained a thigh injury on his league debut.

The Blues have suffered just four defeats across all competitions so far under the passionate Italian, one of which was inflicted upon their first visit to West Ham's divisive new home in October. Cheikhou Kouyate and Edimilson Fernandes struck to seal the hosts' place in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, but that victory was firmly overshadowed by ugly crowd disturbances that involved rival fans hurling coins, bottles and seats at one another.

Neither manager is expecting a repeat of those ugly scenes this evening, with West Ham having worked hard to improve their security operation since then.

19.35: Good evening and welcome to IBTimes UK's live coverage of the final contest of matchday 27 of the 2016-17 Premier League campaign.

Tonight the action comes from the London Stadium, where leaders and overwhelming title favourites Chelsea can extend their lead at the summit to 10 points with victory in an eagerly-anticipated derby clash against mid-table West Ham United.

Minute-by-minute updates on the way after kick-off at 20.00 GMT. Before then, we will have all the latest team news and injury lines. Apologies for the delay in getting underway, but we've been experiencing one or two technical difficulties.