The Hammers beat Lyon 3-0 in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals in France, drawing 4-1 overall to create a final four against Eintracht Frankfurt. It marks a continuation of some remarkable form in recent years, where Moyes took West Ham from the brink of relegation to the Premier League in its first European semi-final since 1976. He told BT Sport: “I’m very proud of the players and the performance and probably more, when you look back, of the performance in the second half at the London Stadium last week, when we had 10 players. seemed a very bad decision. “The players got stuck in it, they never gave up, they got a goal ahead before we conceded. I do not think that anyone who asked me questions earlier did not think we would succeed tonight. “We have a very good team of kids, I’m lucky. They were great during the time I was here and on the trip in two years of trying to avoid relegation and now we’re talking about reaching the semi-finals of a big European tournament, it’s great and everyone will we look forward to it. Picture: Craig Dawson scored the opening goal for West Ham “It’s huge what we did in two years. We have not won trophies yet, but we are trying to compete and qualify again in European football, if we can. “To get to these last stages, we have beaten Sevilla and Lyon now that we have gone through the group stage, big teams that are used to European football. “But let’s go again, you are not gaining anything for tonight, but it was a great moment for us. A 3-0 away win in Europe – a really good result.” Asked if West Ham could now be considered a favorite in the tournament – especially after their opponents in the Frankfurt semifinals eliminated Barcelona from the series – Moyes replied: “We are not favorites, but I want the players to believe that they are. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Watch Lyon fans clash with the referees at the end after their exclusion from the UEFA Europa League by West Ham “I want the players to build confidence … and I thought that with the form we were in at the beginning of the season, I would have taken on anyone at that time. “But the season is changing, we have injuries and tonight, we had an improvised back line. Three boys who should have started did not start tonight. “It was a great morale and performance from everyone on the team that we could come here and get a result.”
Rice: A very special night “We were motivated to win”
Picture: Declan Rice scored West Ham’s second goal of the night
West Ham captain Declan Rice was among the scorers on Thursday afternoon, sweeping his seat six minutes after the opening with a header by Craig Dawson. Jarrod Bowen added West Ham’s third shortly after the break to secure a place in the Europa League Final Four. “It’s special. Very, very special,” Rice told BT Sport. “We knew it was a difficult place to come, we knew they had top individual quality, but we knew what we had on the pitch, our attacking players and what we saw in the first game with them defensively, we knew we could. score tonight. “If you can not stand up for these games, then you should not play football. The roar from the warm-up was a sting and it gives you fire in your stomach to go out and play. “It simply came to our notice then. Dembele winked at the camera on the first leg and their managers on Twitter said they did not know how they would not do it, but these things come back to bite you. “We stayed quiet, we did a show and now West Ham are in the semi-finals … For all the fans, it’s a great night.” Rice and his teammates will not take their next opponents lightly either, with Rice adding: “For Barça to win Frankfurt, they are a top team, you can not ignore that. Whether it was a bad night for Barça , you I still have to score three against them. “We will be ready for anything. Two games again, but we know what we want – to reach the final and give it our all.”
The perfect away appearance from West Ham
Picture: West Ham celebrating with their fans after qualifying for the Europa League semifinals
Sky Sports’ Charlotte Marsh: “In the face of any second quarter-final in Europe, there will be nerves. But maybe the pressure has increased a bit as West Ham went into the game with five consecutive away defeats in all competitions and made three changes to their defensive line – from the first leg. “But it turned out that there was no cause for concern, as West Ham made the perfect away appearance to secure their place in the Europa League final four. “Despite the defensive changes, West Ham were there at every point to stop a talented Lyon attack that includes Musa Dembele, Husem Avar and Carl Toko Ekambi. every job. Picture: Jarrod Bowen celebrating after his goal against Lyon in the Europa League “Perhaps one of Lyon’s mistakes was trying to use the ball too often. West Ham have some tall players in their ranks and have won most of those air battles, even without the presence of Kurt Zuma to further strengthen. “At the other end, they took advantage of Lyon’s defensive weaknesses with a disastrous result – all three scorers were unmarked for their goals. “Craig Dawson was ahead of Dembele, Declan Rice had plenty of space at the top of the area to make his shot and Jarrod Bowen’s run was not watched, or it was not too late by Castelo Luquemba. “In all three cases, West Ham took full advantage. West Ham had fewer shots, but more in the goal. Fourteen of Lyon’s 17 shots were off target or blocked, further proving how well David Moyes’s team was defending. “Then there were the simple things – West Ham just wanted it more. It has not reached the European semifinals since 1976 and at the end of each draw, you can see how much it means for them to reach the next phase. “It could be an end in Hollywood for Mark Noble, with one of his last games likely to be the Europa League final in Seville on May 18. An extra-time winning goal? Stranger things have happened.”
