Thursday 14 April 2016 07:16, UK
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic conceded the better team won as Manchester United earned a 2-1 victory in their FA Cup quarter-final replay at Upton Park.
The Hammers did not build on their impressive showing against Arsenal at the weekend, and starved Andy Carroll of any real service as United ran out deserved winners in the last-ever cup tie at the Boleyn Ground.
Goals from Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini put United two goals to the good, before James Tomkins made things interesting for the final 11 minutes.
United held on, and Bilic agreed with the sentiment that the Hammers were second best, and looked dejected as he admitted that United were good value for the victory.
"They were better in two thirds of the game," Bilic said. "We were really good in the first 15 minutes and the last 20, but other than that their passing was better than ours.
"Some of their players looked fresher, stronger and quicker. We tried, we created chances to equalise, but they were better than us for big parts of the game.
"But we still have big games, we are still in the competition for Europe, big time, and we want to finish as high as possible."
West Ham currently occupy sixth place in the Premier League and are five points outside of the Champions League places going into a crucial weekend clash with Leicester.
And with plenty still to play for, Bilic is adamant that the Hammers will recover and will be ready for the Foxes.
"This is a big disappointment," Bilic said. "It takes out a bit of energy and motivation but we still have a big thing to play for.
"We are going to bounce back."
