MX23RW : Friday, February 1 16:25:56

Pellegrini: It is impossible to play worse

Pellegrini: It is impossible to play worse
© Reuters
Saiss' header and Jimenez's late double sunk West Ham at Wolves while Arnautovic's injury added to the Hammers' concerns.

West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini hit out at his West Ham flops after a nightmare night at Wolves.

Raul Jimenez's late double added to Romain Saiss' opener as the classy hosts dispatched the Hammers 3-0.

The visitors offered nothing following their shock 4-2 FA Cup defeat at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday and also lost Marko Arnautovic – back in the side after signing a new deal to end transfer speculation – to a foot injury which Pellegrini hinted could be serious.

"No shots on target and we conceded three goals, so it is impossible to play worse," Pellegrini said after a third straight defeat.

"The first 45 minutes were very equal for both teams, we had similar possession and Wolverhampton created one chance from a cross that was headed out of our goal.

"But the second half was difficult to understand. We conceded goals from set-pieces, they had another three or four chances and we couldn't shoot at their goal.

"So there were a lot of reasons and we must understand what was happening.

"We were looking for a reaction after we lost against Wimbledon in the cup. It was the moment to try to find a reaction here. We couldn't do it and we have to review all we are doing, because something we are doing is bad."

Arnautovic, who signed a new deal on Saturday after interest from China, limped off midway through the second half following a tackle from Ruben Neves.

He left Molineux on crutches with a protective boot on his right foot.

Pellegrini added: "It will not be an easy injury. I hope he hasn't any problems but we must review him with an examination.

"It was a hard kick in his foot. I'm disappointed about that and disappointed because we have just 15 fit players.

"We don't have any creative midfielders in this moment so it's difficult playing so many games with the same 15 players."

Wolves moved up to seventh in the Premier League, four points above their 11th-placed opponents, following a dominant performance.

Lukasz Fabianski saved from Jonny and Diogo Jota before Saiss broke the deadlock with a 66th-minute header.

There was no coming back for the Hammers and Jimenez stabbed in Joao Moutinho's free-kick before converting Jota's pass in the final 10 minutes.

Boss Nuno Espirito Santo said: "Of course we can play better. This is the ambition we want, we always want to improve.

"We had a good game and improved on our last game. A clean sheet was very important to us after achieving such beautiful goals. We always have to analyse it, we cannot disguise it.

"Raul is doing a fantastic job which goes beyond the goals he scores. The way he plays, his combinations, the way he works, he doesn't stop – he is always giving us our first reaction to losing the ball. He has to keep on going.

The Molineux crowd chanted for their team to make Jimenez's loan deal permanent but Nuno said: "These decisions will be made when they have to be made – and today is not the day to do it."


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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool24194155144161
2Manchester CityMan City24182463194456
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs24180650242654
4Arsenal24145550331747
5Chelsea24145540231747
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd24136548351345
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2410593031-135
8Everton249693533233
9Watford249693334-133
10Bournemouth24103113742-533
11Leicester CityLeicester2495103030032
12West Ham UnitedWest Ham2494113037-731
13Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2475122736-926
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2466122132-1124
15Crystal Palace2465132433-923
16Southampton2458112641-1523
17Burnley2465132545-2023
18Cardiff CityCardiff2454152046-2619
19Fulham2445152553-2817
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield2425171341-2811

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