Beleaguered Sunderland manager David Moyes has told theOfficial Sunderland clubwebsitethat his side's 1-0 loss at West Ham was 'harsh' as they fell to yet another defeatdespite an improved performance.
Winston Reid's 94th minute winner will have been a bitter pill to swallow for Moyes after seeing his players competing with the Hammers for large periods of the game and appearing in little danger of conceding for much of the second half.
The defeat means the Black Catsare stillthe only team in professional English football not to win a league match this season. They sit bottom of the league having only gained two points so far from nine matches.
The pressure grows for David Moyes...
Played: 9
Won: 0
Lost: 7
It's not looking good: https://t.co/s6dJ7R3Vm5 pic.twitter.com/eRmpHWWlyh
Speaking after the 1-0 defeat, the deflated Sunderland manager admitted the result was tough on his side.
Moyes said:It was a very harsh way to lose a game.I was pleased with a lot of what the players did today. It was always going to be a tough game,West Ham have some good players.
We struggled for the first 20 to 30 minutes, but after that we did quite well and created some chances ourselves.We're very disappointed to lose the game.�
Sunderland may feel that they themselves could have been winning the match having squandered several good opportunities throughout the game. Wahibi Khazri inparticular,was guilty of missing a clear cut chance when he wasone-on-one with theWest Ham keeper early in the second half.
Moyes added:I thought we competed and did quite well. We are disappointed, the players worked so hard and we've dropped a point in the end.We had some big chances to score ourselves and we wanted to build some confidence.�
There was an element of controversy surrounding Winston Reid's late goal, with some suggesting it should have been disallowedas several West Ham players were in offside positions when the shot was struck.
David Moyes fumes after Sunderland sunk by 'offside' West Ham goal at the death - https://t.co/VqypaUy8aD pic.twitter.com/tHzVd41Kvu
When asked for his thoughts on the matter, the Sunderland boss simply replied:I've looked at the goal back and I've confirmed to the referee that we believe it was offside. The referee believes it was not offside."
The Black Cats must now pick themselves up again as they travel to Southampton for an EFL fourth round match this week. Moyes and his players will hope a change of competition will see a change of luck, as they look to put their woeful league form behind them and gain a moral boosting win.