Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Football London
Football London
Sport
Tom Clark

West Ham fans will love Declan Rice's reaction to Jarrod Bowen's Leeds United nightmare miss

Jarrod Bowen took to social media to issue an apology to his West Ham teammates and Hammers supporters following his injury-time miss against Leeds.

Bowen netted a first-half equaliser from an Aaron Cresswell corner and the England hopeful had the chance to rescue a point late on only to chest over the bar from close range.

Deep into injury time, Michail Antonio's cross took a deflection and looped up to Bowen inside the six-yard box. The attacker inexplicably decided to chest the ball towards goal instead of stoop to head into the empty net and his effort ended up well over the crossbar.

David Moyes was flabbergasted with the miss believing it was "easier to score than miss" with the manager questioning why Bowen did not head the ball.

"I can't see why he would not head it instead of chest it in," Moyes said. "I can understand if it is a decision between your feet and head sometimes you might decide that but I cannot see the decision between the chest and your head."

The manager added: "But Jarrod scored a great goal today and has done a lot of good things for us and it happens."

Bowen's attempt at goal was the penultimate touch of the ball before the final whistle and would have stolen an undeserved point for the Hammers after a defensive horror show against Leeds United.

Despite the poor performance, there was a point on offer for West Ham had Bowen kept his cool. Following his miss, Bowen posted a message on Instagram to his teammates and the supporters.

"The highs & lows of football. I’m devastated with today I can only apologise to the fans and my team mates for getting it wrong & get ready to put it right next weekend," Bowen said.

Whilst Bowen's miss was a poor one, the attacker has been in superb form for the Hammers of late and as pointed out by Declan Rice there was no need for an apology.

"Getting what wrong? Your goals have been the difference for us bro! We go again brother," Rice replied to Bowen.

Hammers goalkeeper Darren Randolph gave his opinion on the matter: "Bowen for England!! Keep the head up bro," before adding an expletive about what the "haters" can do.

"You have absolutely zero to apologise for," Randolph finished.

Bowen's apology follows a recent trend of footballers taking to social media to send a message to fans after a mistake with many supporters feeling this unnecessary, as the replies to Bowen's mentions confirm.

"Absolutely nothing to apologise about!!" wrote paulpaulwells28.

"class performance again son," said louisupson.

"Don’t worry Jarrod you’ve been amazing this season don’t let one chance missed get your head down," added Charlierwalder_.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.