Manuel Pellegrini Rues West Ham's Missed Chances in Chelsea Draw But Lauds Hammers' Defending

24 September 2018 08:58

Manuel Pellegrini was pleased with his side's defending against Chelsea on Sunday but was a bit disappointed after watching them miss some huge chances on the attacking end.

The sides drew 0-0 at the London Stadium after a challenging game, but the Hammers had the better of the goalscoring opportunities, with Andriy Yarmolenko missing an absolute sitter just before the end of the affair.

FBL-ENG-PR-WEST HAM-CHELSEA

Michail Antonio also spurned two big opportunities in the first half. However, the West Ham boss' defenders were able to get the job done on the opposite end and kept the previously rampant Blues scoreless on the day.

"First of all, yes, a clean sheet, that shows that the team is working harder, to know the way we must defend against a team that scored 14 goals in their other five games, so in that sense, yes I'm happy, but when you have so clear chances against big teams, you must score one of them, we must score, we must score," he said in quotes cited by football.london.


"Chelsea had a lot of possession, yes, because we allowed them to have a lot of possession, we forced them to play most of the game on the right side and not on the left side where Marcos Alonso and 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."

Asked about ​Yarmolenko's miss, the manager did not dwell on it too much and noted there were other chances missed in the match, including one for Alvaro Morata, who saw his shot saved by Lukasz Fabianski's face after coming on as a second half substitute.

West Ham United v Chelsea FC - Premier League

"Maybe a goal was more easier than more difficult, but chances are chances," he said. "Maybe he relaxed a bit more. But there were two very clear chances in the first half. They had one clear chance where Lukasz saved from Morata. Always difficult to score."

Source: 90min