Pellegrini mugged in Chile

LONDON. — New West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini and his wife are recovering after being held up by armed robbers who shot at police before escaping.

Pellegrini (64), who won the English Premier League soccer title with Manchester City in 2014, was on his way to a restaurant in Santiago with his wife and two friends when they were targeted by a gang.

A spokesman for West Ham United said: “We are relieved to hear that Manuel and his wife were both unharmed.”

The couple were mugged on Saturday evening as they headed to a restaurant with friends.

The men are said to have stolen a handbag thought to belong to Carola Pucci, Pellegrini’s wife, before shooting at cops who tried to stop them and speeding off in a stolen Porsche Cayenne later found abandoned by police.

The terrifying incident happened near a shopping mall called Casa Costanera in an upmarket suburb of the Chilean capital Santiago called Vitacura.

No-one was hurt in the drama, despite the violence shown by the armed robbers who threw road spikes down to stop police chasing them after one fired his weapon.

A police helicopter was mobilised in the hunt for the criminals, whose car was eventually found in a suburb of Sntiago called Conchali.

Officers also recovered the handbag they stole, which reportedly belonged to Pellegrini’s wife although police would only confirm it belonged a woman and would not say if it was Carola’s or the female friend she and her husband were with.

They also confirmed the Porsche, taken just a fortnight ago, had false numberplates and said they suspected it had been stolen to order so it could subsequently be used to commit other crimes.

The West Ham manager and his wife were targeted seconds after they parked their car and started walking towards the unnamed restaurant where they were due to have dinner.

Pellegrini and his friends are said to have tried to calm the criminals down while they pointed their weapon at them and demanded their valuables.

The armed robbers were intercepted by police as they tried to run to their car. — BBC Sport.