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David Moyes defended his team selection after West Ham\u2019s unbeaten European record was reduced to ruins in Athens.<\/p>\n
The Hammers came a cropper in the shadow of the Acropolis as they crashed 2-1 at Olympiacos, their first loss in continental competition in 18 matches.<\/p>\n
Moyes, who led his side to the Europa Conference League title last season, made seven changes for their Europa League Group A clash in the Greek capital with one eye on Sunday\u2019s visit of Everton.<\/p>\n
But his tinkering backfired as a soft goal from Olympiacos captain Kostas Fortounis and an own goal from stand-in Hammers skipper Angelo Ogbonna brought their undefeated run to a halt despite Lucas Paqueta\u2019s late volley.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, we changed a lot of players tonight, we\u2019ve got the Premier League coming up and we\u2019ve got a League Cup game next week and we\u2019d won the first two games in the group, which gave us leeway to make changes tonight,\u201d Moyes told whufc.com.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut maybe I have to recognise that while we didn\u2019t win the Conference League games easily, as they were all tough games, coming to Olympiacos after winning away in Freiburg \u2013 which was a good result \u2013 this wasn\u2019t a good result and wasn\u2019t a good performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our heads we certainly had a bigger picture in our heads and that was going into Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody could say the team we started with wasn\u2019t a good team and wasn\u2019t a team capable of winning or performing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of them have been very good players for us over the years and still are.\u201d<\/p>\n
The local \u2018ultras\u2019 welcomed West Ham on to the pitch with a huge banner reading \u201ctonight you dine in hell\u201d, and the Hammers\u2019 first-half display was certainly hard to stomach.<\/p>\n
The hosts took the lead in the 34th minute when Fortounis launched an old-fashioned toe poke from the edge of the box which flew past the flat-footed Alphonse Areola in the West Ham goal.<\/p>\n
On the stroke of half-time the Hammers found themselves two behind when Ogbonna suffered his own personal Greek tragedy.<\/p>\n
The Italian veteran stuck out a foot to block a cross from Brazilian full-back Rodinei, only to help it past Areola into his own net.<\/p>\n
Moyes sent on Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio before the hour mark but the Brazilian\u2019s strike, albeit spectacular, was all West Ham had to show for a late flurry.<\/p>\n
Fortounis admitted his goal was a shade fortuitous. He told reporters: \u201cTo be honest, it all seems like a haze.<\/p>\n
\u201cI turned and ran towards goal, the ball was right in front of me and I couldn\u2019t do anything else. It was literally a strike with the tip of my toe.\u201d<\/p>\n