West Ham midfielder Declan Rice taunted Lyon on social media after the club’s official Twitter account suggested victory in last night’s Europa League clash was an inevitability for the French outfit.
Rice was on the scoresheet as the Hammers produced a magnificent away performance to win 3-0 on the night and reach the semi-finals of the competition after a 4-1 aggregate success.
The first leg had ended in a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium, with West Ham playing the entire second-half with ten men after Aaron Cresswell’s red card.
Ahead of the return at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, the Europa League Twitter account had asked “Which four [quarter-finalists] will progress?”, to which Lyon’s English account replied: “Are you really asking like there’s a chance we don’t go through?”
🤨 Are you really asking like there's a chance we don't go through? 🤨 https://t.co/8y4cCztR5v pic.twitter.com/rHYw72wyNA
— Olympique Lyonnais 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@OL_English) April 11, 2022
Rice responded after helping end the Ligue 1 side’s European run with: “This aged well”.
This aged well😂👍 https://t.co/oYNOAE4DzK
— Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) April 14, 2022
The 23-year-old also referenced the tweet, as well as Moussa Dembele’s wink after Cresswell’s first-leg red card, as extra motivating factors during his post-match interview with BT Sport.
“Them things come back to bite you,” he said. “We stayed quiet, put in a performance and now West Ham are in the semis. What more do we want?”
