- West Ham lost on penalties to Leeds United in the FA Cup quarter finals
- Jarrod Bowen missed his spot kick
- The Hammers captain says the team need to refocus quickly
West Ham United fell just short of a trip to an FA Cup semi final, losing on penalties to Leeds United. The original 90 minutes ended in dramatic fashion as the Hammers scored two stoppage time goals to send the game to extra time. West Ham would have the ball in the net twice but neither would count as they were forced into the lottery of spot kicks.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s team would unfortunately fail to replicate their penalties from the last round, losing 4-2 in the shootout, with Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Felipe missing their penalties.
The Hammers went into the game missing a number of players through in injury but Bowen told the club’s official website that it does not change how gutting the loss is.
“I’m gutted,” Bowen said. “I feel like I’ve let people down. It really hurts because I thought we’d done so much to get back in the game, and I knew how special it would be to get to the semi-finals and give these fans a day out at Wembley.
“Fin has a brilliant moment saving the first penalty, and obviously when you’re up next you’re confident of scoring. You never want to miss in a penalty shootout, especially to go out of the FA Cup, but sometimes you have these low moments and that’s how it is.”
Take the positives and refocus for West Ham
The loss is one that will hurt for a while for West Ham. Bowen knows this, but says the fight they showed is a major positive as they look to head back into the Premier League with force.
“We’ve got a really good group that never gives up, and that’s what you need to play for this Club. It’s one of my biggest mottos, to never throw in the towel, because you never know what might happen in football.
“I hit the post and it fell to Matty, and then you look at the clock and there’s another seven or eight minutes to go. I knew there was another goal in it, and that moment came with Axel. We had a couple of goals disallowed and we felt like we were in the driving seat, but ultimately it wasn’t meant to be.
“I thought Adama [Traoré] was brilliant from start to finish today, and then it’s a big moment for Fin as well, who I told to make himself a hero before he came on. I told him he loved the Club, and he deserved his moment.
“He’s got a really good penalty record, and he had that moment of saving one in the shootout. It’s a special day for him and I’m really happy for him.”
The Irons return to league action on Friday, hosting Wolverhampton Wanderers in a massive game in the survival fight.
“It hurts tonight, but when it comes to tomorrow we have to go back in, recover, and then look forward to Wolves on Friday night because that’s going to be a massive game.
“We have to put in a performance like we did in the second half and in extra-time today, and we’re going to need everyone. We know the atmosphere the fans created today, and we know everyone’s going in the right direction, so we’ll be ready to go again.”
