Tomáš Souček hopes history can repeat itself when West Ham United host SC Freiburg in the second leg of our UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie next week.
The last time the Irons lost a first leg by a 1-0 scoreline away from home in this competition, they roared back to triumph 2-0 at home on an unforgettable night against Sevilla.
Souček was central to that success, heading home our leveller before the break against the Spanish side and he has called for that kind of spirit once again.
The Irons had their chances in Germany on Thursday night, but lost out to Michael Gregoritsch’s 81st-minute goal on the counter, to leave the No28 and his teammates disappointed they could not head home to London holding a positive result.
“It’s disappointing, because after every loss you have to be disappointed,” Souček stated. “I’m happy that it’s only half-time – we beat them twice in the group and we wanted to do the same today.
“Our performance wasn’t enough, but still we had a couple of chances. At home, we need to do much better to go through to the next round.
“I remember that game [against Sevilla] and we were very good in the second leg. I just hope we can do the same now because we want to play more in this competition.
“At home it was a perfect performance and I hope with the fans and everybody it will be the same and will be all good [in the end].”
Souček felt the Hammers should have had the opportunity to level the tie on the night from the spot in stoppage time.
Referee Alejandro Hernández was called to the VAR monitor to rule on a possible penalty for handball, after the Czech midfielder and Freiburg’s Noah Weisshaupt were involved in a challenge.
Souček was bemused as to why the official did not overturn his original decision but says his team have to take that on the chin and move on to a vital three home match-week.
“I think it should have been a penalty,” he added. "The referee told me the defender kicked the ball onto his hand on his own, but it was me who played the ball.
“I think it’s the wrong decision, but I’m not on the pitch to make those decisions. It’s unlucky for us, it could be 1-1 but it’s not, so we have to deal with it.
“We were not as sharp [tonight as in the last two matches]. We have to see what we did wrong and get ready for the next week.”
