Sky Sports reporter slams Lucas Paqueta for ‘careless’ moment in West Ham United 4-1 win v Gent
Sky Sports reporter Jamie Weir has slammed Lucas Paqueta for his “careless” pass which kickstarted Gent’s attack for their opening goal against West Ham United on Thursday (20 April) night.
The Europa Conference League quarter-final clash at the London Stadium started the evening at 1-1, but David Moyes’ side found themselves behind after 25 minutes when Hugo Cuypers netted for Gent.
The opening goal of the night was a horror show from West Ham, with Paqueta softly gifting possession away in his own half before the Hammers’ defence was cut apart by a swift Gent counter-attack.
“That’s an absolute stinker from West Ham,” Weir wrote on Sky Sports’ live blog (20 April, 20:29).
“Paqueta is careless in giving the ball away, the defence is all over the shop and Gent take the lead which, to be fair, they probably deserve.
“The travelling fans have gone bananas.”
Nightmare
Although Paqueta had started the game relatively brightly, playing some smart through balls and looking like one of West Ham’s main attacking threats in his usual attacking midfield role, he got too complacent with this pass, and he paid the price.
The pass should have been nothing more than a formality.
Within his own half, the Brazilian had men free to his right and left and wasn’t even under any pressure from Gent’s attack.
However, even after the playmaker gifted the ball away, West Ham’s defence left little to be desired as they were cut apart with alarming ease.
Gent broke swiftly down the left flank, but Kurt Zouma was firstly drawn out of position to engage the ball but then failed to track the run of Cuypers, who eventually prodded home to open the scoring.
This passage of play was certainly one to forget for West Ham United, David Moyes, but most of all, Paqueta.