Declan Rice has hit back at Lyon striker Moussa Dembele and the club's Twitter admin after West Ham knocked the French side out of the Europa League on Thursday night.
The Hammers produced a stunning performance to beat Lyon 3-0 away from home, to progress to the semi-finals of the competition with a 4-1 aggregate win.
Speaking after the match, Rice said the visitors were fired up after seeing Dembele wink at the camera after Aaron Cresswell was shown a straight red card for a challenge on the former Fulham and Celtic striker in the first leg at the London Stadium.
“Obviously Dembele winking at the camera in the first leg and then their Twitter admin somehow saying they don't know how they're not going to get through,” said Rice, who scored in the win at the Groupama Stadium along with Craig Dawson and Jarrod Bowen.
Advert
“Those things come back to bite you and we stayed quiet, put in a performance and now West Ham are in the semis. What more do we want?”
Rice was referencing a post on Lyon's Twitter account, published before the second leg, which read: “Are you really asking like there's a chance we don't go through?”
After the second leg, England international Rice retweeted Lyon's post, alongside the caption: “This aged well”, followed by a cry-laughing and thumbs up emoji.
Advert
West Ham’s own Twitter admin also got in on the fun, tweeting a video of Dembele’s wink from the first leg, following by the wink emoji.
Hammers boss David Moyes had previously warned Lyon their behaviour during and after the first leg in London could come back to haunt them.
“This game has got a strange way of coming back to catch you, you just never know,” he said.
“That's why when you talk about people being down and reacting in certain ways, that can sometimes come back at different times in different ways.
Advert
“Football has a strange way of coming back to get you.”
West Ham progress to the semi-finals of the Europa League, where they will face Eintracht Frankfurt.
The German club pulled off a stunning win of their own to beat Barcelona 3-2 at the Nou Camp, claiming a 4-3 aggregate victory over the Catalan giants.
Topics: Lyon, West Ham United, Europa League, Football, Premier League, Declan Rice
