David Moyes has admitted that he feels "embarrassed and disappointed" after seeing his West Ham United side thrashed 5-2 at Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Sunday.
The Hammers were commended for their spirited display on Thursday when they pushed Bayer Leverkusen all the way in their Europa League quarter-final second-leg draw at the London Stadium, eventually losing 3-1 on aggregate.
However, West Ham have consistently struggled to follow up European fixtures with a positive domestic result, and the travelling Hammers supporters were let down once again at Selhurst Park as they watched their side fall to a humbling defeat.
Palace raced into a three-goal lead inside the opening 20 minutes and then added a fourth on the 31st-minute mark through Jean-Philippe Mateta, before Michail Antonio pulled one back on the stroke of half time.
West Ham continued to be outclassed by Palace after the break and conceded again when Mateta netted his second of the afternoon midway through the second half, before a Dean Henderson own goal proved to be just a consolation for the Hammers late in the contest.
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David Moyes achieves unwanted managerial first in Palace rout
Defeat for West Ham represents their 12th in the Premier League this season, as well as their ninth in all competitions since the turn of the year; Across their 21 matches in 2024, the Hammers have only won four times and have drawn the remaining eight.
In what was Moyes's 693rd match as a manager in the Premier League, Sunday's fixture was the earliest that a team managed by the Scotsman has ever been 4-0 down in a game in the division (31st minute).
Moyes, who has been tipped to leave the London Stadium when his contract expires this summer, has now failed to win any of his last four league meetings against Palace as West Ham boss, with his side conceding 12 goals in the process.
West Ham's latest setback serves as a blow to their hopes of securing European football for the fourth consecutive season as they remain eighth in the Premier League table, two points behind seventh-placed Manchester United who have two games in hand.
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David Moyes left "embarrassed and disappointed" after "atrocious" defeat
Speaking to reporters after the loss at Selhurst Park, Moyes said: "I'm really embarrassed and disappointed for the supporters. We performed well on Thursday night, and we took praise for that, but today was as bad as I remember it being for a long time. We were atrocious, and we got what we deserved.
"The first 30 minutes were awful. We came here to try and be hard to beat, but the goals we conceded were extremely disappointing and we really shot ourselves in the foot.
"We didn't defend, and we hardly got forward. I don't think we crossed the halfway line for the first 15-20 minutes. We have no excuse. We've had a lot of games, and we didn't have Jarrod [Bowen], but we knew that and we needed to come here and be better.
"As a Premier League club, you have to have something about you. Every game is tough and we knew that coming here, but really it was just so, so bad."
"The big thing now is seeing a response from the players," Moyes added. "We're back next week against Liverpool, and we have to be back up to speed for that one. I've told the players I expect a reaction, so let's see if we get that.
"The players care about the performance, the team and the club. They know it wasn't good enough, and I'm sure they'll be desperate to put this right."
West Ham play host to title hopefuls Liverpool next Saturday lunchtime, before ending the campaign with fixtures against Chelsea, Luton Town and Manchester City.
Oliver Thomas
