Aaron Cresswell caused West Ham problems against Backa Topola with a “sloppy” pass, according to TNT Sports pundit Clive Allen.
The left-back gave the ball away inside his own half just after the half-hour mark of the Europa League clash on Thursday (30 November).
Backa Topola’s Aleksandar Cirkovic could not, however, capitalise on the mistake, with the match ending 1-0 to the Hammers thanks to Tomas Soucek’s late goal.
“It was just sloppy, a square pass,” Allen said live on TNT Sports (6.16pm, 30 November). “It has to be precise but it was just aimless from Cresswell, and he was nearly punished.
“Cresswell will apologise in a few seconds. It was needless from West Ham, just causing their own problems with those sloppy passes. It was a poor cross-field ball.”
Risky
It was certainly dangerous play from the left-back, who got the nod in defence ahead of Emerson as Moyes looked to shake things up given the club’s busy schedule.
Emerson watched on in fear, along with everyone else on the West Ham dugout, when Cresswell presented the hosts with a glorious chance to open the scoring in Serbia.
But it wasn’t meant to be, with Lukas Fabianski coming to his teammate’s rescue with an important save, although Cirkovic will have been disappointed with his effort.
It was always going to be a tough night for the Hammers, who defeated Backa Topola 3-1 in the reverse leg at the London Stadium back in September.
The East London outfit now finish off their Europa League group stage campaign with a home clash with SC Freiburg.
Between now and then, however, is a hat-trick of Premier League matches, with West Ham meeting Crystal Palace, Tottenham and Fulham.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers want to sign a Ukraine sensation in 2024, with an exit for the player “widely expected.”
Izvor: Link
