According to David Moyes, West Ham was lucky to avoid defeat in their Europa Conference League match against KAA Gent on Thursday, as their performance was not up to par, writes the Evening Standard.
Despite the Belgian side managing 20 shots compared to the Hammers’ four, they had to settle for a 1-1 draw after Hugo Cuypers scored the equalizer to Danny Ings’ opener. The tie is now evenly balanced heading into the return leg at the London Stadium next week, and Moyes acknowledges that his team will need to deliver a better performance if they hope to progress to their second consecutive European semi-final.
Moyes said: “There were so many different aspects we could be better at,”
“We didn’t build well and then a lot of the basics come into it like picking up first and second balls. We didn’t put them under pressure. We had opportunities to pass it better.
“I didn’t think the performance was good, but the result was not a bad result, and when you play in cup competitions we are all aware of what can happen.
“Tonight was a cup competition, two teams in a quarter final and us away from home, with a strong crowd and Gent played very well. Hopefully, we can show them a bit more about how we play when we see them next Thursday.”