West Ham boss David Moyes has told Lyon forward Moussa Dembele what goes around comes around.
Dembele was caught winking after he was brought down by Aaron Cresswell in the Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday.
The left-back was sent off after the referee deemed him to be denying a goalscoring opportunity and the Frenchman gave a wink, just as Cristiano Ronaldo did against England at the 2006 World Cup following Wayne Rooney’s dismissal.
Moyes reminded Dembele that fortunes can quickly change in football and pointed to Cresswell as evidence as his red card came just days after scoring a brilliant free-kick against Everton at the weekend.
“Sometimes you feel as if you can be hard done by and you just have to put it aside and get on with it,” the Scot said.
“Aaron Cresswell scored a brilliant free-kick the other day (against Everton), lots of talk about him.
“This game has got a strange way of coming back to catch you, you just never know.
“That’s why when you talk about people being down and reacting in certain ways, that can sometimes come back at different times in different ways.
“Football has a strange way of coming back to get you.
“You can see the action, you can see what happened. Unfortunately it happened and it didn’t help us.”
Cresswell will still be able to play as the Hammers return to domestic action with a trip across London to Brentford on Saturday.
They will come up against Christian Eriksen, whose return from his cardiac arrest last summer is going from strength to strength.
Moyes believes his story is sending a positive message.
“I think it is a brilliant story. I don’t think anyone ever doubted Christian Eriksen as a player,” he said.
“Unbelievable player, it looks as if he’s a really good lad. I think it is just a wee bit more about hope.
“Everyone in life should feel that when things are down don’t let it keep you down, keep fighting, it is a great message to everybody.
“That is why he gets applauded and that’s why people cheer because they see something that everybody knows was very close, now to being back playing and playing very well.”
