David Moyes referenced the line of questioning he received earlier when revelling in proving the West Ham doubters wrong, while Declan Rice took great delight in getting revenge for two Lyon incidents.
West Ham advanced to the semi-final stage of the Europa League after dismantling Lyon on their own turf. A nervy night was expected with the scores tied at 1-1 after the first leg. However, after weathering an early storm, the Hammers took control and never looked back.
Craig Dawson set West Ham on their way when steaming on to nod home from a corner. Declan Rice then doubled the lead on the stroke of half time via the aid of a handy deflection.
And within minutes after the break, Jarrod Bowen had made it 3-0 on the night when clinically converting following superb work from Michail Antonio and Pablo Fornals in the build-up.
MATCH REPORT: Dominant West Ham humble Lyon as surprise opponents await in Europa League semi-final
Their prize is a semi-final clash with Eintracht Frankfurt who produced a shock when defeating Barcelona 3-2 (4-3 on aggregate) at the Camp Nou.
Speaking to BT Sport after the match, Moyes said: “Immensely proud of the players and the performance and probably more so, when you look back, of the performance in the second-half of the first leg when we were down to 10 men, which looked a really poor decision.
No one thought we’d progress – Moyes
“The players stuck at it, never gave up, got a goal in front before we conceded. I don’t think anyone, when they were putting questions to me earlier, thought we were going to make it tonight.
“If you have a good team spirit… all managers would like to get that and it is not easy. It mainly comes from winning. Good results builds it.
“We have a great group of lads. I’m lucky. They have been great in the time I have been here. And the journey in two years from trying to avoid relegation and now we are talking about getting to the semi-final of a major European tournament. It is fabulous…