Moyes was sent off with 12 minutes left
West Ham boss David Moyes apologized for kicking a ball after a boy was kicked out of Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Hammers also saw defender Aaron Creswell show a red card during their fierce semi-final defeat in the Europa League.
By the end of 12 minutes, Moyes was sent from the goal line to angrily push the ball back to the boy with the ball, who had pulled it.
“I have to apologize for kicking the ball,” Moyes said.
“The boy with the ball left him short at will for me. I apologize for that. Don’t hit him, I think I moved him past him.”
Moyes, whose team was beaten 1-0 at night and 3-1 overall, said West Ham lost the draw in the first minute of last week’s first leg.
Ansgar Knauf gave Frankfurt the lead after 49 seconds in a 2-1 victory in London – and led Rafael Bore to the only goal of Deutsche Bank Park.
“Let’s be honest, we probably lost the game in the first few seconds at London Stadium when we let in,” Moyes said.
“We’ve been chasing the game ever since.”
Frankfurt will now face Rangers in the final, while West Ham are waiting for a trophy until the 43rd year. They are currently seventh in the Premier League, which will bring them a place in the European Conference League.
“I’m really proud of the players. How they played with 10 men was fantastic. They stayed in it. Other teams would give up and lose two or three,” Moyes said.
“I thought we had a better chance than Frankfurt. But we congratulate them. They pass, we don’t and we give them our best wishes.”
He was also less impressed by the reaction of the Frankfurt bench to Cresswell’s initial yellow card, which was raised to red after a VAR check.
“I didn’t think the refereeing was great all the time. Aaron gave the referee a decision. I was more disappointed than the bench in Frankfurt.
“I hope our bench does not react like that.
West Ham midfielder Declan Rice acknowledged the team’s disappointment at the end of a European series that included victories over Sevilla and Lyon.
“The first goal broke the atmosphere in the first game and is a mountain to climb from there,” he told BT Sport.
“We are gutted there. We went so far as a group.
“We had real faith that they would not beat us on two legs. Of course, they are a good team, but there is no way they can be better than Sevilla or Lyon.
“The expulsion was probably an expulsion, but some of the other decisions were bad tonight. The judge seems to have made every decision for him. When you have someone against you, you can’t do much.”
Thousands of Frankfurt fans flocked to the field full-time to celebrate their first European final since 1980.
The right-back of the Hammers, Vladimir Kufal, said: “I was not afraid. I have experienced it many times in Slavia Prague. If I am attacked, this is their problem, not mine.”
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