Lying on his back by the touchline, with eyes closed and his arms raised in quiet celebration, was Lucas Paqueta. A few yards away, out on the pitch, Moises Caicedo was on his knees praying.

Maybe Paqueta was praying also. The Brazilian certainly looked like he was contemplating what has happened to him in the last few turbulent days when a dream £80 million (€93.7m) move to Manchester City has collapsed amid allegations of betting and here he was scoring a penalty in the fifth minute of added time to confirm a famous victory for West Ham United over Chelsea.

 

Paqueta looked spent. He looked mentally as well as physically exhausted, maybe suffering from cramp and exhaustion. Was the investigation praying on him?

“It is not a big weight off his shoulders. It was just a terrific performance by him,” West Ham manager David Moyes said defiantly. “He scored a penalty. He played really, really well.”

He did. And Moyes added that he did not even consider leaving Paqueta out. “Never any doubt,” he said. “He is a solid and tough character. No problems.”

 

Unfortunately, there are problems and the almost primal scream that  released after scoring, matched by the West Ham fans, surely betrayed the stress he has been under as he faces a potential investigation by the Football Association for bets allegedly being placed on him receiving yellow cards.

“I thought 65,000 people stood to their feet and applauded him because of what he had done (on the pitch). Played as well as anybody. Showed character, never hid away,” Moyes said.

Ironically, there was another caution here, as Paqueta was booked for a first-half incident involving Raheem Sterling, but he was one of West Ham’s most influential players especially after they were reduced to 10 men when their first goalscorer, Nayef Aguerd, himself received a second yellow card and was sent off with half an hour to go.

The spot-kick that confirmed the result was conceded by Caicedo, who clumsily tripped Emerson, with Chelsea’s British record £115 million (€135m) signing failing to have any positive effect once he made his debut as a second-half substitute.

 

The Ecuadorean’s statistics were poor: he lost possession eight times and committed two fouls as well as conceding the penalty. In fairness, he has barely had any kind of pre-season and the quality of the 21-year-old is not in doubt even if that fee remains eye-popping.

“He was telling us he was ready, I think 30 minutes is good for him, many positive things and he is maybe disappointed but we need to move on and he will be a good player for us,” Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino countered.

Caicedo also had a chance to equalise before Paqueta’s goal but ballooned a shot wildly over the crossbar and while West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was arguably man of the match this was a brutal reality check for Pochettino who looked shellshocked.

 

Indeed Chelsea have won just one of their last 14 league games, losing eight of them, which shows how deep and systemic their problems have been. If last Sunday’s encouraging 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool was a step forward then this was two leaps backwards.

Again the fact that they have spent close to £1 billion (€1.17bn) on transfers since the Todd Boehly/Behdad Eghbali (only the latter was at the game) led takeover will be debated but it is undeniable they still have an unbalanced squad lacking a cutting edge up-front. Christopher Nkunku is injured, Nicolas Jackson is quick and dangerous but rash, Sterling played his best game for months… but Mykhailo Mudryk? Oh dear, it was a poor, poor performance from him.

 

It was not from Paqueta. He will now stay at West Ham, and it remains to be seen whether he receives a ban, which will undoubtedly be lengthy if he is charged and the charges are proven, even though the club had already reluctantly agreed a deal to sell him.

West Ham had even progressed transfers to re-invest the money they would receive including a move for Montpellier striker Elye Wahi who is, instead, joining Lens for €30m (£25.7m).

​It was encouraging, therefore, that Michail Antonio responded with an outstanding goal even if Moyes confirmed they are still in the market for a couple more players. In truth, though, this was all about midfield. It was about Paqueta but it was also about James Ward-Prowse who provided two assists, including one from his deadly set-piece delivery as Aguerd headed in his corner.

 

Rarely, in fact, has a transfer looked such a good fit as Ward-Prowse’s £30m (€35m) move from Southampton and the watching England manager Gareth Southgate will have been impressed.

As Moyes stated, Ward-Prowse has a similar “character” to the departed Declan Rice while West Ham were also able to bring on another signing, the defensively tenacious Edson Alvarez, when a player down.

 

It was about Caicedo but it was also about Enzo Fernandez, who cost £105m (€123m) it should not be forgotten, and he could have sent this result in a very different direction had he not wasted a penalty, saved by Areola. That would have provided Chelsea with 2-1 advantage at half-time when they were undoubtedly in the ascendancy after 19-year-old Carney Chukwuemeka had equalised with his first goal. But, above all, this was about Paqueta who was making different headlines from a couple of days ago.