West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini was disappointed his side failed to take any of their “clear chances” in their 0-0 draw with Chelsea on Sunday.
In the absence of Marko Arnautovic up front, Michail Antonio and Andriy Yarmolenko squandered golden opportunities to turn one point into three in the stalemate at London Stadium.
Chelsea were dominant for large periods between those scares, commanding over 70 per cent of possession, but the Hammers boss said his team executed their game plan to a tee.
Pellegrini also commended his team’s work ethic in defence but lamented the lack of composure that cost them successive victories.
“When you have such clear chances against a big team, you must score at least one of them. You must score,” the Hammers boss told reporters.
“[Chelsea] had a lot of possession because we allowed them to have the ball.
“We forced them to play most of the game from the right side, not the left side where Marcos Alonso and Eden Hazard are so dangerous.
“The first half was very clear, the way I wanted to play. The second we maybe lost too many balls. But against these teams, a draw is not a bad point.”
Yarmolenko, twice on target in last weekend’s 3-1 win at Everton, was especially culpable for failing to break the deadlock, planting a free header wide with fewer than 15 minutes remaining.
“Maybe it seemed easier to score than miss. Maybe he relaxed a bit more,” Pellegrini said of the chance.
“But there were two very clear chances in the first half. [Chelsea] had one clear chance where Lukasz [Fabianski] saved from [Alvaro] Morata. It’s always difficult to score.”
After picking up their first points of the season last week, West Ham now sit 17th, one place above the relegation zone.
West Ham face League Two side Macclesfield Town next in the Carabao Cup before another tough home assignment against Manchester United on Saturday.
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