A solid first-half showing was not enough for Pablo Fornals and company as West Ham United slipped to a 3-0 defeat at new Premier League leaders Manchester City on Wednesday evening.
After a goalless first 45 minutes, the quality of the defending champions showed as goals from Nathan Aké, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden saw Pep Guardiola’s men move back to the top of the league.
The Hammers worked tirelessly at Etihad Stadium but, after keeping City quiet for the majority of the first half, were unable to salvage a response after falling behind, despite their best efforts at Etihad Stadium.
And while Fornals was proud of the fight his side showed, the Spain midfielder was frustrated to see sloppy errors allow the Citizens to show their class.
“In the first half, we were in the game and [our game plan] worked really well,” Fornals admitted, “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 it was their success.
“But we came here, and we fought like dogs for 90 minutes and I am going home [frustrated] that they created [most of their chances] from mistakes.”
With skipper Declan Rice, Nayef Aguerd and Tomáš Souček ruled out due to illness only hours before kick-off, the Irons battled resolutely at Etihad Stadium to keep the match goalless at the break.
Fornals was proud of the squad’s collective attitude as David Moyes made four changes to the side which started at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
With Kurt Zouma also ruled out due to an ankle injury sustained at Selhurst Park, Thilo Kehrer, Aaron Cresswell, Flynn Downes and Angelo Ogbonna were recalled to the starting XI.
And a much-changed side, due to a combination of unfortunate circumstances, battled well, according to Fornals.
Now, whoever is fit to play, the Hammers have four games to secure their top-flight future, starting with a home fixture with Manchester United at London Stadium on Sunday evening.
“We are not just eleven players,” the No8 stated. "[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 needs to 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.”
