Pellegrini stops rot with shock victory
HE cracked a smile, he broke a streak and he fixed a leak. Maybe there is life yet in the reign of Manuel Pellegrini.
For how long, no one really knows. But for now, with the end of that run of seven games without victory, he can breathe with just a little more comfort.
Not only because this was a superb result against a good team that was procured by the delightful right foot of a left-back. But also because of its manner and namely the degree of difficulty in the climb, with this being a game where so much of West Ham’s work was done without the ball.
The numbers on that can tell a tale of sorts — Chelsea had 65 per cent of possession and 19 shots. West Ham had five goes at goal and made 16 fouls to zero from Chelsea. There are a couple of interpretations for that kind of data, the least kind of which would be that it was a smash and grab, capped by Aaron Cresswell’s lovely moment. But it wasn’t.
West Ham had the best chance of the first half and the best of the second. They did a better job of protecting their goal, they did a better job of attacking Chelsea’s and so they won. The sucker punch came in the second half after Felipe Anderson and Pablo Fornals played Cresswell into the box.
His cut-back left Reece James facing the wrong direction and with his weaker right foot he curled across goal and inside the far post. Great stuff. And at last Pellegrini looked happy.
West Ham also had an Antonio goal disallowed by the VAR for a handball but Pellegrini noted afterwards: ‘It was a very important win, because we have had results that are not expected or deserved.’
Lampard lamented: ‘We were not at our best, that was very clear.’