Moyes says sorry to ball boy but blasts rival bench and referee

David Moyes issued an apology to a ball boy at Eintracht Frankfurt after he was shown a red card for smashing the ball back towards the tunnel during West Ham United’s defeat in Germany.

Moyes was sent off after the incident, in which he reacted furiously to the ball boy’s lack of urgency on the touchline. The West Ham manager’s strike almost hit the ball boy, who had turned his back after bouncing the ball slowly towards the 59-year-old.

“I have to apologise for kicking the ball at the ball boy,” Moyes said. “He left it short, it was nicely on the volley for me, but I apologise for it.

“I didn’t hit him, I think I just bent it past him. He threw it very short when he could have thrown me the ball, he chose to leave it short. As I said, I apologise for that. But it was a big game we were trying to win tonight.”

Moyes was unhappy with the conduct of the Eintracht Frankfurt bench following an early red card for Aaron Cresswell, which made the task nearly impossible for West Ham as they looked to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit in this Europa League semi-final.

“I thought it wasn’t great officiating tonight,” Moyes said. “Aaron has given the referee a decision to make, but I was more disappointed with the Frankfurt bench.

“The whole bench came off and I had a run-in with the fourth official because I had left my square, but their whole bench was [doing the same].

“I am really disappointed with the reaction of the bench [to Cresswell’s challenge]. You don’t react in that way. I hope my bench wouldn’t. Maybe that’s what I need to do. Maybe we need to change the way we try to be correct.”

Frankfurt fans had clashed with West Ham supporters in the days leading up to the game, with local reports saying the Germans had sought out English fans in the city. There was a pitch invasion at the final whistle, and many Frankfurt fans attempted to goad the away supporters before they were driven back by police.

There was also trouble within the away section. Local police said last night that a person in the away end of the ground had been arrested for making a Nazi salute.

Declan Rice, the West Ham midfielder, said he was “gutted” after

the exit from Europe, which came despite their continued efforts in the second half to equalise on the night.

“A red card is always going to make it a mountain to climb,” Rice said. “We had genuine belief that over two legs they weren’t going to beat us. Of course they are a good side but no way are they better than what Sevilla or Lyon were.

“Maybe we played a team who play similar to us and it caught us out in the end. We have come so far. Nobody expected West Ham to be here. The boys went out on a high even though we lost.

“I am proud as well. To go down to 10 men and put in that shift. Many teams will go away and lose three or four. To still try to get forward with a man less emphasises everything that West Ham is about.

“The first goal killed the atmosphere in the first game and it is a mountain to climb from there.

“It didn’t seem to go for us at all. One cleared off the line, Tomas [Soucek]’s header at the end. We had a few shots. Other than the goal, they didn’t really have another chance. An annoying one to concede that after the sending off as we could still have been in it.”