Hammers’ Potter reveals Paqueta’s tears of frustration at Spurs draw

West Ham manager Graham Potter said Lucas Paqueta shed tears of frustration during the team’s 1-1 Premier League draw at home to capital rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Paqueta looked distraught after he was shown a yellow card in the second half following a foul on Mikey Moore.

The Brazilian midfielder is still awaiting the verdict  of a FA hearing into allegations he deliberately got himself booked in four matches.

The London Stadium witnessed an extraordinary scene on Sunday, with Paqueta consoled by both Hammers captain Jarrod Bowen and referee Michael Oliver.

“I think he’s just a player that’s trying his absolute best and wants the situation to be better and probably got a bit frustrated with the action,” said Potter.

“And then you see a human being, not perfect, but I love Lucas. He’s given everything and in difficult circumstances he’s in as well. He’s given everything and he’s absolutely fine now.”

Spurs went ahead in the 15th minute when Hammers defender Max Kilman had two attempts to make a seemingly routine clearance, but hit Mathys Tel with both of them.

The second time Tel was able to square the ball across goal, where it was missed by Aaron Cresswell to leave Wilson Odobert with a simple finish past Alphonse Areola.

But West Ham responded just before the half-hour mark when Bowen ran into the penalty area before slipping the ball through the legs of Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou made eight changes as he rested several senior players ahead of his side’s Europa League semi-final second leg away to Norwegian club Bodo/Glimt on Thursday.

“I’m proud of the players’ efforts,” said Postecoglou, still under pressure despite the team’s European heroics following a result that left his side languishing in a lowly 16th position in the Premier League, just a point and a place above the Hammers.

The Australian added: “It’s not easy making so many changes and it’s going to affect the fluency and even the rhythm of the team. I thought the efforts they put in today were outstanding, they were disciplined, organised.”

Spurs midfielder James Maddison looks set to miss out on Thursday after undergoing a scan on the knee injury he suffered during the north London side’s 3-1 win in the first leg.

“It doesn’t look great but we’re just waiting for further information,” said Postecoglou.

“We’ll just wait and see. Hopefully we’ll probably get some clarity tomorrow (Monday). It doesn’t look promising but I’ll just wait and see.”

Dominic Solanke also limped off against the Norwegians but Postecoglou said of the striker: “Dom’s improving. We obviously left him out today (Sunday) but the medical team are pretty confident he should be right for Thursday.”