David Moyes has expressed his pride towards his West Ham United players for their efforts in this season's Europa League but he has questioned the officiating following their semi-final exit to Eintracht Frankfurt.
After losing the first leg 2-1 in London last week, the Hammers were condemned to a slender 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture in Germany on Thursday night, a game which saw both Aaron Cresswell and Moyes sent off either side of half time.
Moyes was dismissed in the final 15 minutes for kicking a ball in frustration towards a ball boy, and the Scotsman has since apologised for his actions.
"I kicked a ball back at a ball boy so I apologise for that. He threw it very softly at me," Moyes told BT Sport in his post-match interview.
"I'm really disappointed. Things didn't go for us on the night. Small things didn't happen but I am really proud of the players. How they played with 10 men was fantastic. They stayed in it. Other teams would have folded and lost two or three. The boys here are great. Tough boys.
"I thought we tried. We created chances. I thought we had better chances than Frankfurt. But we congratulate them. They go through, we don't and we give them our best wishes.
Moyes added: "I just feel disappointment as I felt this was a chance. We have played better teams probably than Frankfurt. Let's be honest, we probably lost the game in the first 30 seconds at the London Stadium when we conceded. We were chasing the game since.
"We have enjoyed being in the competition. Not sure we have enjoyed the officiating. We have a pretty good team so I think we can try again. We will be a bit wiser and can hopefully do it more often."
West Ham missed the chance to reach their first European final in 47 years, and they will now turn their attention back to the Premier League with a trip to Norwich City up next on Sunday.
Oliver Thomas
