Owen Hargreaves, Joe and Carlton Cole react to Aaron Cresswell’s West Ham United red card
The BT Sport pundits reacted to Aaron Cresswell’s devastating red card for West Ham as the Hammers were knocked out of Europe in Frankfurt.
The English full-back was sent off for a second time in the knockout stages of the Europa League, rendering the visitors’ attempt at a come back from the first-leg deficit insurmountable.
Eintracht Frankfurt soon added to their lead, and the man advantage proved too much to overcome for David Moyes’ side, and former Irons Joe and Carlton Cole, as well as ex-Bayern Munich player Owen Hargreaves assessed the major turning point of the game.
Speaking on the BT Sport match coverage at half time (5 May, 8.50pm) , with the team still reeling from the double blow of red card and goal, Joe Cole said: “Right decision. It’s a disastrous start for West Ham.
“He gets clumsy and it’s a clear denial of a goalscoring opportunity by the letter of the law.
“I felt like the ref didn’t want to give it, but once he’s seen it there… He gets it all wrong Cresswell, he gets the wrong side of him, he’ll be disappointed and it has to be a sending off.”
Hargreaves added: “It’s the right decision. I think when he looks at it back it makes it quite easy.
“Once the ball bounces for Cresswell he’s in all kinds of trouble… I feel for him. It’s one of the biggest games of his life.”
Carlton Cole bemoaned the fact that Cresswell had fallen into the same trap as he did against Lyon, saying: “He had to have learnt from his last mistake. You can’t really be handsy.
“If you’ve not learnt from that last one, that one’s always going to be given.
“As soon as Zouma steps out he’s in trouble. It wasn’t even a great ball.”
Devastating
The rug was taken out from underneath this side when they went down to 10 so early.
Cresswell has been a wonderful servant of the club, but while his teammates were able to overcome his previous dismissal, it proved a bridge too far in Germany.
A second-half performance that showed admirable fight and energy may have been able to drag the Irons level were it not for the quick-fire concession so soon after the red.
A furious David Moyes was shown a red card himself as frustrations boiled over in the second half.
This run to the semi-finals has been an historic and galvanising experience for fans and staff alike, and for it to come to an end in these circumstances was extremely deflating.
Supporters had dared to dream of a final appearance and an unlikely route into the Champions League, but the fairytale run came to an end on an emotional night.
In other West Ham news, the player ratings are in from the final night of the European run.
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