Manuel Pellegrini’s three best games as West Ham manager

The Chilean’s 18-month spell at the Hammers was very up and down, to say the least, with the former Real Madrid boss giving the West Ham fans some fantastic moments as well as some quite dire ones.

Much was expected of the Chilean who won the Premier League and League Cup with Manchester City in 2014. That expectation grew as Pellegrini spent just under £100 million reshaping the West Ham squad with the likes of Issa Diop, Andriy Yarmolenko and Felipe Anderson all joining the club on big deals.

Despite having a relatively successful first season with West Ham finishing in 10th place, things turned sour during Pellegrini’s second season in charge. West Ham went seven games without a win and found themselves in a relegation battle despite having such a promising start. This then led to Pellegrini’s dismissal a couple of months later following a 2-1 loss to Leicester City.

Despite the sour end, there were some brilliant times under the Chilean.

Here are Manuel Pellegrini’s three best games in charge of the Hammers:

West Ham 3-1 Manchester United 29/09/18

The 3-1 win over Mourinho’s Man United squad was the first big win of the Chilean’s reign and was evidence that Pellegrini’s style was the way forward for the Hammers. West Ham had come into the game having previously beaten Everton 3-1 and drawing 0-0 with Chelsea at home.

Confidence was high with Pellegrini’s side having turned around their bad form at the start of the season and the Hammers carried their form into the game. It was then record signing Anderson who opened his account for the club by scoring a delightful backheel in the 5th minute to give the hosts the lead.

Yarmolenko then doubled West Ham’s lead before half time with his deflected effort sailing past David De Gea into the top right corner just before half time. Despite Marcus Rashford getting one back for United in the 71st minute, Marko Arnautovic sealed the three points for West Ham just minutes later after slotting home following a defence-splitting ball from Mark Noble.

The performance showed why the board had put their faith in the manager and it seemed to indicate a new, exciting future for the Hammers.

West Ham 1-0 Arsenal 12/01/19

The 1-0 win over Arsenal was done in typical West Ham fashion with Pellegrini’s side having previously drawn to Brighton and lost 2-0 to Burnley.

West Ham started the game very sharply and was outplaying an Arsenal side who were in the driving seat for Champions League qualification.

West Ham took the lead against the Gunners just after halftime with Declan Rice curling a great effort into the top right corner to score his first goal for West Ham. To rub salt into the wound it was an ex-Arsenal player and “traitor” Samir Nasri who assisted Rice’s goal.

The game was a special one given that it was West Ham’s first victory over Arsenal since the opening day of the 2015/16 season and it was all so fitting for academy graduate Rice to score his first goal in Claret and Blue.

The win over Unai Emery’s men put West Ham back in the race for a European spot and it was looking to set up a great end to the season.

Tottenham 0-1 West Ham 27/04/19

Undoubtedly everyone’s favourite result under Pellegrini is the 1-0 win over Spurs in their new stadium.

With West Ham’s European ambitions having fizzled out due to inconsistency, the Hammer’s came to Spurs’ new home and made up for the 3-2 loss earlier in the season.

Spurs had moved into their new ground on the 3rd of April and had won their last three games at home without scoring a goal.

The Hammer’s arguably played some of their best football all season that game and hardly gave the hosts a sniff throughout the 90 minutes. Despite having some great efforts from range, with Declan Rice narrowly rifling a shot over the crossbar, West Ham couldn’t break the deadlock in the first half.

It only took a couple of minutes of the second half and a little bit of magic from Michail Antonio, for West Ham to finally take the lead and to score the first away goal at the new White Hart Lane.

Despite some late efforts from Tottenham, West Ham managed to hold on for all three points as well as a clean sheet to seal the first away victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It was simply written in the stars for West Ham to come in and ruin that perfect record.

Manuel Pellegrini brought in a great style of attacking football but he ultimately failed in his efforts to give West Ham a winning mentality. This partnered with a lack of consistency and some poor recruitment set the seeds for the Chilean’s eventual sacking. Despite this, West Ham fans will remember him for all the good times that he brought to the London Stadium.