Pochettino rocked as 10-man West Ham sink Chelsea

West Ham United’s French goalkeeper #23 Alphonse Areola punches the ball away during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Chelsea at the London Stadium, in London on August 20, 2023. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

Mauricio Pochettino urged Chelsea to “believe in the process” after Michail Antonio’s superb strike and Enzo Fernandez’s penalty miss condemned the Blues to a 3-1 loss against West Ham on Sunday.

After last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool, Pochettino’s side wasted a lively performance as they paid the price for sloppy defending and wasteful finishing at the London Stadium.

Antonio blasted West Ham’s decisive second goal after half-time and Lucas Paqueta added a late penalty to leave Pochettino still waiting for his first Premier League win since taking charge in the close-season.

Chelsea teenager Carney Chukwuemeka had scored an eye-catching first half equaliser to cancel Nayef Aguerd’s early opener for West Ham.

But the turning point came when Fernandez’s penalty was saved by Alphonse Areola just before the break.

Antonio netted soon after the interval and Chelsea couldn’t respond despite Aguerd’s dismissal for a second booking midway through the half.

Paqueta, reportedly the subject of an FA probe into betting breaches, applied the knockout blow in the final seconds.

“Teams like us, we need to get the right balance. I think there were a few actions we didn’t manage well and we conceded,” Pochettino said.

“We create many chances and should have won the game with our first half.

“It was the frustration when we miss the penalty. We were playing well and we didn’t get the reward.

“Disappointed but this is only the beginning. We need to believe in the process.”

Dating back to last season,