Leon Osman blasts Craig Dawson and Pablo Fornals for what they did for West Ham v Lyon
BBC pundit Leon Osman was furious with West Ham duo Craig Dawson and Pablo Fornals after their poor defending in the first half against Lyon.
The Hammers travelled to France with the tie level at 1-1 after the first leg, needing a win to progress to the semi-final of the Europa League for the first time ever.
In the opening 15 minutes it was the hosts who had the better chances though and after David Moyes’ side survived a goal mouth scramble at one incident, Osman told BBC Radio 5 Live that they had got away with one.
“It’s a huge chance,” he said.
“I’m not quite sure how West Ham got away with that one. Fornals was beaten far too easily. Dawson’s position was all wrong.
“There was a couple of swings and misses from the Lyon players before West Ham finally got it away. We are on for some game here.”
Composure
Lyon have been the more assured side on the ball over the two games, but West Ham have shown more than enough defensive quality to feel annoyed about that chance in particular.
It was a great ball in but the defending seemed chaotic with Fornals allowing the cross in the first place rather unopposed, while Dawson swung and missed at a rather basic clearance.
Luckily they were able to recover and block any other attempts at goal and come away unscathed, but moments like that too often are regularly the difference at the top level.
The last thing they want to do is concede a goal that was completely avoidable, so those mistakes must be eradicated from their game entirely going forward.
Dawson and Fornals have been excellent this season, so thankfully it’s not too much of a liability but it must be corrected.
In other West Ham news, Joe Cole set a last-gasp challenge for one West Ham ace ahead of the clash v Lyon
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