The tie is finely balanced at the midway point but David Moyes knows, even with 11 men for 90 minutes, West Ham will need to produce and maintain a far higher intensity in next week’s second leg if they are to keep their Europa League dream alive.
While it was easy to focus on Aaron Cresswell’s harsh red card late in the first half last night, and Moyes’s correct claim that Jarrod Bowen should have received a free kick immediately before having been barged over by Houssem Aouar, the reality is West Ham were not at their best in a tepid opening half against a technically superior Lyon team.“Not a good performance,” the manager said. “Poor, but we showed good resilience with our performance when down to 10 men.”
The manager refused to engage with any question around referee Felix Zwayer apart from repeatedly referring to the Bowen foul that was not given. And it is fair to argue that the sense of injustice had revved the hosts up in the early portion of the second period.
READ MORE: Manager's post-match reaction
“We didn't have much of the ball in the second half, the manager added. “We had to defend well against their 11. They were technically very good I felt. But we defended very well. It made it harder for them. We may have had more chances actually with 10 men than 11 at the time. We had the ability to score and had one or two opportunities.”
Antonio question
That they threatened more while a player down in the second period was indicative and Michail Antonio, despite being heavily involved in the build up to the opening goal, looked short of belief as an isolated presence up front. The Jamaica international also failed to meet a tasty cross with only the goalkeeper to beat at 1-1 and Moyes seemed to indicate he expected Antonio to be a tad braver. “I didn't get a chance to speak to him but I felt he should have made contact with the ball. We all had to play slightly differently tonight under the conditions. Maybe he felt pulling himself away was the safest thing to do.”
Benrahma ploy
The Algeria winger being sacrificed for an additional defender, Ben Johnson, in the second half robbed West Ham of their primary attacking tactic from the opening half (a low bar, mind) - long diagonal passes for him to latch on to on the left wing. It produced the game’s first shot on target and earned two corners with Benrahma, whose end product remains frustratingly inconsistent, appearing the most likely to break the deadlock in a tepid opening 45 minutes. At least he will be fresh for his return to Brentford on Sunday, where a number of West Ham players may still feel a tad heavy-legged after last night’s effort.
Bowen goal
He was actually having one of his quieter nights before being in the right place at the right time to capitalise on Jerome Boateng’s slack mistake and put West Ham in front. The most pleasing thing is how he is making notable contributions even when not playing particularly well. “He started slow tonight but so did the rest of the team,” Moyes said. “Jarrod's the one getting in areas to score us goals. Good on him. We've needed him. He's got two goals in a couple of games. He's an important player to the team.”
Rice rises
That a yellow card would have ruled him out of the second leg would likely have been in the back of Rice’s head all evening but he performed with typical excellence. No West Ham player had more touches, interceptions or passes and he hardly put a foot wrong without the ball. It came the evening after fresh reports surfaced of Manchester United's interest and six days on from Moyes proclaiming that the minimum transfer fee the club would give any consideration to has now risen to £150million. The reality is the key to keeping Rice rests in ensuring he can perform in Europe every season and that means there remains little room for error in the Premier League. The level cannot drop against Brentford on Sunday.
