David Moyes apologised for losing his cool after West Ham’s manager was sent off for lashing out at a ballboy as his side’s hopes of reaching the Europa League final were ended by Eintracht Frankfurt.
Moyes, who was disappointed after West Ham fell to a 3-1 defeat on aggregate, admitted that he had no defence after he lost his cool with a time-wasting local. “I kicked a ball back at the ballboy so I apologise for that,” the Scot said. “He threw it very softly at me.”
West Ham were up against it after losing Aaron Cresswell to a foolish red card after 19 minutes. Cresswell was dismissed for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity when he fouled Jens Petter Hauge and Frankfurt, who will face Rangers in the final in Seville, made the most of their numerical advantage when Rafael Borré scored the only goal of the game.
Moyes, who criticised Frankfurt’s coaching staff for appealing for Cresswell to be sent off, was proud of his side’s efforts with 10 men. “Things didn’t go for us on the night,” he said. “I’m really proud of the players. How they played with 10 men was fantastic. Other teams would have folded. But they boys here are great. Tough boys.
“I just feel disappointment because this was a chance. We’ve played better teams than Frankfurt. If we’re being honest, we probably lost the game in the first 30 seconds of the game at the London Stadium where we conceded a goal. Really from that moment we’ve been chasing the game ever since.”
The pain was huge in West Ham’s dressing room. “We’re gutted in there,” Declan Rice said. “We’ve come so far as a group. We’re proud as well to go down to 10 men and put in that shift. I’ve lost big games, lads in there have lost big games, but I come off with my chest held high.”
On a demoralising night for West Ham it also emerged that a visiting fan was arrested for making a Nazi salute inside the ground. “Our forces arrested a person in the guest block who had previously shown the Hitler salute,” Frankfurt Police tweeted.
