Jarrod Bowen was the width of the post away from scoring what could have been a point-earning goal at Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.
Such are the fine margins which settle games in the Premier League, as Bowen and his West Ham United side were left to reflect on their seconds 2-0 defeat since the restart.
Tomas Soucek's unfortunate own goal - after Davinson Sanchez appeared to help Ben Davies' corner on with his arm - and Harry Kane's late second settled the contest, but Bowen's strike against the post, which split the hosts' goals, had him wondering what might have been.
"On another day it goes inside the post, and if that goes in it's 1-1 and we're right back in the game," he reflected. "Unfortunately it's hit the post and gone wide.
"The first goal, being an own goal, was tough to take, but I felt we were still in the game. We had a couple of chances, we hit the post but they caught us on the counter attack to knock the stuffing out of us with the second goal so late on.
"i don't think you can fault any of the boys' effort - you could see that we worked hard without the ball, it's just unfortunate that the manner of the first goal killed us a bit."
Hard work is a given, you're expected to work hard every game, and we will put maximum effort in - we've got seven massive games now to start picking up some points
Jarrod Bowen
Bowen had praise for his teammates' work rate as they searched for reward at Tottenham, but knows they need to show a sharper edge going forward when they return to action against Chelsea next week.
He explained: "We were just working hard, trying to make opportunities on the break and trying to get a foothold in the game. We know they like to play with a fast tempo, so we were trying to deal with it as best we could.
"Hard work is a given, you're expected to work hard every game, and we will put maximum effort in, play our own game and take it to the opposition.
"We've had a tough run, we've got Chelsea next week, every game is tough in the position we're in. We've got seven massive games now to start picking up some points."
