Manuel Pellegrini Remains 'Very Happy' With Hammers Performance Despite Defeat to Arsenal
West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini has praised his team's performance despite seeing his side lose their third Premier League game in a row, this time to Arsenal.
The Hammers' afternoon at the Emirates Stadium looked to be going perfectly when Marko Arnautović gave the visitors the lead within the opening 25 minutes of the first half. However, West Ham couldn't hold onto their lead as Arsenal levelled within five minutes of Arnautović's strike.
An unfortunate own-goal from defender Issa Diop gifted the Gunners the lead with 20 minutes remaining before substitute Danny Welbeck sealed the win in added time.
Speaking after the game (as quoted by the Daily Star), the Chilean manager said: "Arsenal won 3-1, but if you analyse the game we had many opportunities to score a goal before.
"We were very unlucky with the own goal that put Arsenal on top, and the last goal was in the last minute when we are trying to get back in the game.
IAN KINGTON/GettyImages
“I’m very happy about how we played. The team, in the current way, created a lot of chances. We played well, with good pace and good movement. I’m sure a victory will come.
“I’m happy with the team. I think the team played well and I think we were a team that defended well. Okay, Arsenal scored three goals at the end, but they didn’t create many chances, so I’m happy that we’ve improved as a team and we’re improving every week.
“I think, from the game today, fans will see we are on our way.”
IAN KINGTON/GettyImages
West Ham's goalscorer Arnautović was forced off with a knock not long into the second half, and was replaced by Javier Hernández. Speaking on the forward's injury, Pellegrini said: "We will see during the week what happened with Marko. He felt a pain in his muscle.
“Antonio also has a problem with his ankle, but I hope that they will recover.”
The Hammers won't have long to recover as they will meet Wimbledon in the second round fixture of the Football League Cup on Tuesday.
