West Ham United lost 2-0 at Chelsea on Monday night.
West Ham United boss Manuel Pellegrini has told Football.London that he wanted to bring on Samir Nasri against Chelsea – but a half-time injury problem meant the change was abandoned.
The Hammers made the short trip across London to take on Chelsea on Monday night, with Pellegrini keen to bounce back after a worrying defeat to Everton.
However, there was nothing his side could do to stop Chelsea’s opener, as Eden Hazard slalomed and danced his way through the West Ham defence to score a stunning opener.
West Ham did have their chances, with Manuel Lanzini forcing a save from Kepa Arrizabalaga and Aaron Cresswell going close, threatening to make Chelsea regret their missed chances.
However, poor marking allowed Ross Barkley to pick out Hazard inside the box, and he rattled home the second to give Chelsea a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
West Ham just couldn’t break Chelsea down when they were on top, and many were wondering why playmaker Nasri wasn’t introduced for additional creativity – but Pellegrini revealed why the Frenchman wasn’t involved.
Pellegrini has admitted that he was going to bring on Nasri at half time last night, but he suffered a calf injury in the warm-up and didn’t feel confident enough to play with the injury, meaning the change was abandoned, with Robert Snodgrass coming on for Javier Hernandez at half time instead.
“Samir Nasri was going to start in the second half, but in the warm-up he felt a muscle injury in his calf and wasn’t confident to play. We’ll see tomorrow.”
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