Pellegrini hails West Ham’s biggest win for 35 years

LONDON: Manuel Pellegrini saluted West Ham’s ruthless finishing as the Premier League side stormed to their biggest win for 35 years with an 8- 0 thrashing of Macclesfield in the League Cup third-round tie.

Pellegrini, who twice won the League Cup with Manchester City, named a strong side against the Football League’s bottom club on Wednesday and was rewarded as West Ham ran riot at the London Stadium.

Robert Snodgrass, Lucas Perez, Ryan Fredericks and debutant Grady Diangana all scored their first goals for the club, while Michail Antonio and Angelo Ogbonna were also on target.

West Ham’s demolition job equalled their 10-0 win against Bury in the same competition in 1983.

“It’s never easy to find space when you have eight or nine players in front of you but we were patient,” Pellegrini said.

“It was a good win because we must show the difference between a team in the Premier League and a team in League Two – but you don’t always do it. That’s why I’m happy for the players.”

Diangana, a 20-year-old midfielder from West Ham’s academy, capped an impressive debut with two composed finishes to wrap up the scoring.

“One of the things I asked the club is to bring the Under-23s to the same training ground we use.

“Last month we started to do that so it’s easy for me to see their performance,” Pellegrini added.

“He’s a young player and he must improve on a lot of things to be a top player, but he’s working hard and doing well and if he continues with the personality he showed today I think he will improve a lot.” — AFP