West Ham United boss David Moyes has explained why he took off Said Benrahma at half time during the defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion.
Moyes withdrew the forward midway through the contest at the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon when the score was only 1-0 to the home side.
It was a decision which attracted plenty of criticism from Hammers supporters, with Pablo Fornals coming on for the final 45 minutes of the match.
READ MORE: David Moyes explains West Ham United duo's absences during thrashing at Brighton
The change by Moyes failed to have the desired effect, though, with the Seagulls running rampant in the second period and adding to the opener by Alexis Mac Allister with goals from Joel Veltman, Kaoru Mitoma and Danny Welbeck.
Benrahma opened the scoring during West Ham's 3-1 FA Cup defeat at Manchester United last Wednesday night but he was unable to repeat the feat on the south coast. Asked about the change at Brighton, Moyes explained his thinking behind taking Benrahma off.
"I thought they were causing us problems down the right with Solly March and Veltman and I didn’t think we were getting any creative stuff," the boss said. "But I could have said that about a lot of them. I’ve got to make the decision of what I think at the time.
"Pablo Fornals has played quite well for us, does a good job for us. I thought he might have helped out a bit more in a defensive situation and Pablo’s someone who can come up with a goal. We turned the ball over more in the first half than I think we’ve done all season. [But] our passing and control was really poor."
Up next for West Ham is a Europa League Conference clash away at AEK Larnaca in Cyprus on Thursday night before they host Aston Villa in the Premier League next Sunday afternoon.
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