Brentford 2 West Ham 0
A bright summer day in west London saw both sides play without much urgency for the first 20 minutes or so. Both sides creating chances but with little effect.
But then an ill- judged pass from Aguerd put Downes under pressure. He could not pick it up, and as a result the ball was intercepted and the Bees took advantage and found Jensen 25 yards out.
Emerson was then drawn out of position which allowed the dangerous Mbeumo to slide the first-time shot under Fabianski’s right arm and into the net. Fab could have done better there, shades of De Gea last week
Brentford continued to look comfortable, while we continued to look disjointed, which was probably to be expected with so many West Ham players on the pitch who have not had much competitive game time.
But just before half time Brentford doubled their tally when after more schoolboy defending as a long throw is flicked on by Mee and Wissa heads in.
As the Bees prepared to take that throw, Moyes was seen shouting at his players to get to the near post to defend that throw, but the calls were seemingly not heard. He was remarkably miffed when the ball went in the net, as you’d expect.
As the whistle went for the end of the first half, a very poor and forgettable performance by the Irons. We had the paltry total of only two shots in the first 45 minutes
I expected some changes for the second half but our Supremo clearly had other ideas.
The Irons started smartly in the second half when Cornet got away down the left for the first time. Ings was waiting in space in the centre, but the winger didn’t see him and checked. He then exchanged passes with Lanzini and the No10 crossed for Soucek, who headed wide of the far post.
On the hour mark, Moyes finally decided to make some changes: Rice for Soucek, Benrahma for Cornet and Mubuma finally getting a run out in place of a below par Fornals.
Then on 67 minutes, the spectre of VAR raises its ugly head again when after some pressure from the Irons following a Benrahma cross, Ings heads in. The ref goes and has a look at the monitor and chalks the goal off . Apparently for handball or was it an infringement? VAR – the gift that keeps on giving !
On the 83rd minute Ings was replaced by Bowen in attempt to add some zip to a really lacklustre performance by the Irons.
So it is another loss, but it could have been a lot worse. Let us hope their confidence has not been dented ahead of our semi-final next week .
