West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice has apologised to fans after he missed a penalty in the club’s recent loss.
Over the most recent weekend of Premier League fixtures, the Hammers fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of newly promoted Nottingham Forest.
A single goal scored on the stroke of half-time by Taiwo Awoniyi was enough to settle the affair, showing just how costly Rice’s penalty miss was.
No doubt feeling responsible for the loss, the West Ham man took to Twitter to say sorry to the club’s fans, writing: “Can only apologise for the penalty miss, thought we created enough to get something from the game. We go again & stay together.”
Should Declan Rice take West Ham's next penalty?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Declan Rice and West Ham…
Rice is probably right to say he felt the Hammers created enough to at least get a draw, as they did have 19 shots on target, had one goal disallowed and hit the bar three times – on top of the penalty miss.
Despite all that, the club captain couldn’t do enough to help his team pick up any points and he faced criticism in the media for doing so.
Indeed, in football.london’s player ratings, Rice was handed a lowly 5/10 for his efforts as he spurned the ‘golden chance’ to equalise from the spot.
Journalist Jonty Colman said: “Against former Hammers loanee Jesse Lingard in the heart of midfield, Hammers captain Rice found himself booked inside the first ten minutes for two early fouls, the second of which was on Lingard.
“Played a gilt-edged pass for Benrahma to open the scoring, only for it to be disallowed by a Michail Antonio foul. Had a golden chance to level the game from the spot on the hour mark, only to see his spot-kick saved by England hopeful Dean Henderson.”
It has become almost fashionable for footballers to apologise for their errors during games, and with social media offering the chance for players to personally interact with the public, perhaps Rice felt the need to say something being the club captain, as he may have felt responsible for the defeat.
However, he received plenty of support following his comments, with ex-Hammer Carlton Cole leaping to his defence and claiming that the club are ‘within touching distance’ of finding their rhythm again after a rollercoaster campaign last term.
We agree with this, as it is a long season and it will not be defined by this penalty miss.