Pellegrini takes aim at City – Is he justified? Fan reactions

Manuel Pellegrini has accused Manchester City of making tactical fouls during their 5-0 thrashing of West Ham at the London Stadium.

The Hammers were beaten convincingly by the defending Premier League champions, with Raheem Sterling scoring a second-half hat-trick while Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus also added to the onslaught.

As reported by Guardian Sport, Pellegrini had some words for City who he accused of purposefully fouling the Hammers, saying:

Every time we tried to arrive in their box they committed fouls. We were innocent in that regard.

If you review the game that is why we didn’t create too many chances in the first half. All our offensive moments of attacking ended in a foul. You can look at the statistics. They committed 13 fouls, we committed five. But that wasn’t the reason why we lost.

Read West Ham Verdict

The overall consensus among many West Ham fans online wasn’t surprise at Pellegrini’s comments. Many were in firm agreement and directed their frustrations to referee Mike Dean.

Twitter: @guardian_sport @barneyronay water is wet, guardiola’s teams have done it for years (@ezrajoenig)

Twitter: @guardian_sport @barneyronay Yeah, we all noticed. The referee didn’t. Mike Dean, you say? Oh … (@livlan)

Twitter: @guardian_sport @barneyronay Yep, they did. It’s ridiculous (@smodha)

Twitter: @guardian_sport @barneyronay Do it all the time. Virtually every counter attack’s stoped by 1. (@Stevie30715)