Pellegrini insists lack of added pressure; admits key errors cost West Ham

West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini rued his side’s inability to kill off the game as they were punished by Arsenal at the London Stadium on Monday night.

Having taken the lead after 38 minutes through Angelo Ogbonna’s header following a dominant first-half display, West Ham were undone as the Gunners took the game away from the hosts in a deadly ten-minute spell.

The result leaves the Hammers without a win in five matches at home, leading to boos from some of the supporters.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Pellegrini admitted he found it “difficult” to understand how his side went from dominating to conceding three goals.

“It is difficult to understand. We dominated the game for 60 minutes and then lost the game. We didn’t score the important second goal,” the manager said.

“You must understand the boos [from the fans] because the last five games we played here we didn’t win. If you don’t win at home your fans cannot be happy.

“You cannot concede three goals in every game. Unfortunately for us we are doing the wrong things. We are not in our best moment but need to keep fighting.”

Pellegrini also spoke to BBC Sport, saying: “For 60 minutes there was just one team on the pitch. But football can be like this.

“We made mistakes in moments of defending. The problem was a lack of patience and quality to decide the game with a second goal and we made important mistakes in defence.

“The pressure for me is exactly the same if we win or lose. When you don’t have results things are more difficult. If I had not seen the team play the way they did in the first 65 minutes, I might have doubts [about his ability to turn things around].

“After Southampton at the weekend we have a break. We must try to recover as quickly as we can and we must try to win those three points.”

West Ham are now in 16th place in the Premier League table on 16 points, one above the relegation zone, with Southampton on 15.