West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini has indicated that his team should have taken the scoring opportunities which came for grabs during the London derby versus Chelsea at the London Stadium. Maurizio Sarri’s side dominated the proceedings with more than two-thirds of the possession but the Hammers were the ones with the clear-cut chances with both Andriy Yarmolenko and Michail Antonio fluffing their lines.
He told Sky Sports: “When you have such clear chances against a big team, you must score at least one of them. You must score. [Chelsea] had a lot of possession because we allowed them to have the ball. We forced them to play most of the game from the right side, not the left side where Marcos Alonso and Eden Hazard are so dangerous. The first half was very clear, the way I wanted to play. The second we maybe lost too many balls. But against these teams, a draw is not a bad point.”
Pellegrini’s future had been called into question after the Hammers lost the first four games of the Premier League campaign and there were suggestions that he could be the first managerial casualty. Amidst the claims, the Hammers’ hierarchy assured that they have their entire backing towards the Chilean and this appears to have paid dividends with the team acquiring four points from the previous two games.
Next up, West Ham United have a home game against Macclesfield Town in the League Cup third round on Wednesday night after which they entertain Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United in the Premier League.