Wednesday 11 May 2016 09:34, UK
An emotional Slaven Bilic said West Ham's farewell match at the Boleyn Ground could not have gone any better.
The West Ham boss watched as his players fought back from 2-1 down with 15 minutes to play to beat Manchester United 3-2 in the final league match to be played at the club's home of 112 years.
Bilic was in tears as the final whistle sounded and said the occasion - against one of the country's biggest clubs on a Tuesday night under floodlights - was a special one.
"It was a great night," he told Sky Sports. "It's history. It's not just a game; it's against them, it's fighting for Europe and everything, it's a late night game. And it couldn't be better.
"All the boxes that you need to have a special kind of game were there tonight. Who would you wish for? Man Utd? Okay. Tick. Late night? Definitely. Thriller. Definitely.
"How many goals do you want? Five goals? Yeah? Five goals. It was brilliant."
Winston Reid secured his place in the history books by scoring the final goal at the stadium, as West Ham climbed to sixth and kept their hopes of European football alive.
Two Anthony Martial goals had threatened to spoil the party as Manchester United went 2-1 ahead, but Bilic insisted his players did not want to let their supporters down on such an important night.
"We were under pressure," he added. "We didn't want to lose our last game at this fantastic stadium. We just wanted to win it. This was a win of character.
"We didn't stop believing. Okay, they are Manchester United, they have scored a couple of great goals and they have individual class which is unbelievable, especially Martial who is pure pace and skill.
"We knew they were highly motivated because it meant a lot to them because they could have overtaken Manchester City, but we should be more than one-up at half-time.
"We knew, especially when the crosses were coming in, that we are really good if the delivery is good. It came and we scored and we totally deserved it from my point of view."
