West Ham United manager David Moyes felt his side deserved more for the effort they expended in Tuesday night’s Emirates FA Cup fifth round tie at Manchester United
The Hammers were edged out after extra-time at Old Trafford, with Scott McTominay’s sharp finish in the 97th minute proving enough to dash the visitors’ cup hopes for the season.
West Ham dug in to limit the Red Devils’ opportunities, despite twice having to reshuffle their back-line due to injuries suffered by Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop during the contest, and the boss was happy with the attitude they showed.
“The boys did a great job,” he explained. “We didn’t perform particularly well in the first half, but we did perform well as it went on.
“We came up against injuries and different things which made us change and I just hope they don’t have a lasting effect on us.
“Angelo had an ankle injury, Issa got a bump on the head and we felt the right thing to do was change him.
“It was a case of trying to change the system and look for different things at half-time, which wasn’t easy.
“I feel that the result is a bit harsh. I don’t think we deserved to lose the game, I think we warranted the chance to go to penalty kicks for the work the players they put in.
We wanted to win and we showed that. The players put in a great performance for 120 minutes and we’ve not quite come out on top
David Moyes
While the Hammers could not find the goal they needed to prolong their cup journey, Moyes believes they are getting closer to the level they need to be at to compete on this stage.
“We wanted to win and we showed that,” he added. “The players put in a great performance for 120 minutes and we’ve not quite come out on top.
“It says a lot with what we’re doing right now that we’re coming here and running them really close in the big games
“We’re challenging a lot of the so-called bigger teams so we have to keep playing at that standard and giving ourselves a chance of winning these games.”