West Ham midfielder Pablo Fornals bemoans poor second half display against Man City

West Ham United midfielder Pablo Fornals said the team were not happy with how they collapsed in the second half of their Premier League clash with Manchester City tonight.

The Hammers held City for the first 45 minutes and went into the break with the scores level.

However, City broke the deadlock only five minutes into the second half, with Nathan Ake heading home Riyad Mahrez’s cross.

Erling Braut Haaland doubled the lead with a chip over Lukas Fabianski. It was his record-breaking 35th goal of his debut campaign in the Premier League.

Phil Foden rounded off the scoring, and Fornals could not hide his disappointment.

Fornals said (via West Ham’s official website): “In the first half, we were in the game, and [our game plan] worked really well.

“But in the second half, we started to concede goals, and obviously, we are not happy with the way we conceded the goals in the second half because it was more our fault than their success.

“But we came here and fought like dogs for 90 minutes. I am going home [frustrated] that they created [most of their chances] from mistakes.”

To be fair to the Hammers, they were without some crucial first-team members. Nayerf Aguerd, Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek missed the game through injuries.

Kurt Zouma did not play due to an ankle injury sustained against Crystal Palace. Thilo Kehrer, Aaron Cresswell, Flynn Downes and Angelo Ogbonna came into the team.

“We are not just eleven players,” Fornals added. “[The whole squad] is ready for their chance.

“With or without [the missing players] it is always tough to play against a team who is fighting to be first [in the Premier League table].”

“In the first half, we fought. And we did our game plan. We tried to make it as hard as possible for them.

“As we showed, everyone must be ready for what is coming. We have to stay together as we have all season and try and reach our goals as soon as possible.”

West Ham have four games to secure their place in the top flight. They are on 34 points, four above the relegation zone. They face Manchester United on Sunday.