‘When you’ve got someone who’s against you, you can’t really do much’
Declan Rice has criticised the referee after West Ham United exited the Europa League at the semi-final stage at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt.
Footage from the tunnel also shows the England midfielder chastising the referee – Jesus Gil from Spain – as the teams made their way back to the dressing rooms.
Eintracht Frankfurt eliminate West Ham from Europa League at semi-final stage.
West Ham came into the tie trailing 2-1 on aggregate after the first leg and were reduced to 10-men just 19 minutes into the semi-final second leg after a sloppy challenge from Cresswell.
Frankfurt made the most of their advantage and took the lead through Rafael Santos Borré in the 26th minute.
Towards the end of the match, Hammers boss Moyes was sent off for appearing to kick the ball towards a ball boy in frustration after there was a delay in retrieving it.
The home side were able to see out the remainder of the tie comfortably and secure their place in the Europa League final, where they will face off against Rangers later this month.
After the game, West Ham midfielder Rice suggested that referee Jesus Gil Manzano was ‘against’ the Premier League side and favoured Frankfurt.
“When you’ve got someone who’s against you, you can’t really do much.”
Declan Rice wasn’t happy with the refereeing in Frankfurt tonight pic.twitter.com/8VmB1C1Nij
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) May 5, 2022
Declan Rice appears to accuse the referee of ‘corruption’ after Europa League loss.
Rice was asked about the incident(s) towards the end of the match, the England international suggested it was an ‘overlook’ of the whole game.
Speaking to BT Sport, he said: “I think it’s an overlook of the whole game and the decisions that were made to be honest with you.
“Obviously, the sending off was probably a sending off looking back at it, but some of the other decisions were poor tonight.
“Nothing seemed to go for us, the referee seemed to make every decision go for them and in the end, when you’ve got someone who’s against you, you can’t really do much.”
Meanwhile, footage has emerged from after the game where Rice followed the Spanish referee down the tunnel and screamed in his face, before storming off and shouting ‘corruption.’
Declan rice is a brilliant player. But this isn’t great. Blatant red card. They weren’t good enough either leg. Great shame – they just didn’t quite turn up. But also hilarious how Sunday league this chat is. pic.twitter.com/vCsZCCcNyD
— Max Rushden 💛🖤 (@maxrushden) May 6, 2022
