West Ham star branded ‘pathetic’ for what he did before Chelsea goal

Chelsea raced into a two-goal lead at the London Stadium – and West Ham fans are furious.

West Ham star Konstantinos Mavropanos has been slammed by fans over what he did before Chelsea’s opening goal against his side.

The Blues took a fourth-minute lead through Nicolas Jackson, who netted his third goal of the season.

The Senegal striker then made it two for the afternoon on 18 minutes, sprinting through on goal before slotting the ball beyond goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

But fans focused in on the first goal scored for Jackson, and took aim at Mavropanos for his part in it.

The Greece defender was not directly involved in Jackson’s run on the left, but fans believed he was too slow to get back through the centre of the pitch and could have moved across to help out Edson Alvarez, who was tracking the Chelsea striker.

One fan wrote: “What on earth was Mavropanos doing for the goal? No effort to get across and decides to mark space instead.”

A second said: “Three league games in a row Mavropanos has been terrible for a goal. Get him out of the team now.”

A third added: “Mavropanos not closing Jackson down when he can see Alvarez being beaten. Abysmal for a CB yet again.”

And a fourth fumed: “That was far, far too easy. Mavropanos looked like the slowest centre-back in the world there.”

And a fifth simply wrote: “Pathetic defending.”

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West Ham have picked up four points from their opening four games in the Premier League this season under new manager Julen Lopetegui.

Their only win came away to Crystal Palace last month, but they have also suffered defeats to Manchester City and Aston Villa.

The Hammers drew 1-1 with Fulham last week, with Danny Ings scoring a 95th-minute equaliser to rescue a point.

Lopetegui replaced David Moyes, who left West Ham at the end of last season after a four-and-a-half-year spell in charge which saw him deliver the club’s first European trophy.