The Hammers beat Lyon 3-0 in their Europa League quarter-final second leg in France, winning the tie 4-1 on aggregate to set up a final four meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt.

It marks a continuation of some remarkable form over the last few years, where Moyes has taken West Ham from the brink of Premier League relegation to their first European semi-final since 1976.

He told BT Sport: "I'm immensely proud of the players and the performance and probably more so, when you look back, of the performance in the second-half at the London Stadium last week when we were down to 10 men, which looked a really poor decision.

• West Ham sweep past Lyon to book Europa League semi-final place
• How the teams lined up | Match stats
• Europa League fixtures | Results | Download the Sky Sports App

"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.

"We have a really 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 and we are all going to look forward to it.

"It is huge what we have done in two years. We have not won any trophies yet but we are trying to compete and to qualify for European football again, if we can.

"To be getting to these latter stages, we have beaten Seville and Lyon now since getting through the group stages, big clubs that are used to European football.

"But we go again, you don't win anything for tonight but it was a big moment for us. Winning 3-0 away from home in Europe - a really good result."

When asked if West Ham could now be considered the tournament favourites - especially after their semi-final opponents Frankfurt knocked Barcelona out of the running - Moyes replied: "We're not favourites, but I want the players to think that they are.

"I want the players to create self belief... and I thought with the form we were in at the start of the season, I would've taken on anybody on at that time.

"But the season changes, we have injuries and tonight, we had a makeshift backline. Three boys who would be considered to start weren't starting tonight.

"It was a great squad ethic and performance from them all that we could come here and get a result."

Rice: A very special evening | 'We had incentives to win'

West Ham captain Declan Rice was among the scorers on Thursday evening, sweeping home six minutes after Craig Dawson's headed opener.

Jarrod Bowen added West Ham's third shortly after the break to secure their spot in the Europa League final four.

"It's special. Very, very special," Rice told BT Sport. "We knew it was a tough place to come, we knew they had top individual quality, but we knew with what we had on the pitch, our attacking players and what we had seen in the first game with them defensively, we knew we could score goals tonight.

"If you can't get up for these games then you shouldn't be playing football. The roar from the warm-up, it was spine-tingling and it gives you that fire in your stomach to go out there and perform.

"There were a few incentives for us. Dembele winking at the camera in the first leg then their Twitter admins were saying they don't know how they are not going to get through, but those things come back to bite you.

"We stayed quiet, put in a performance and now West Ham are in the semis... For all the fans, it is such a great night."

Rice and his team-mates will not be taking their next opponents lightly either, with Rice adding: "For Frankfurt to beat Barca, they are a top side, you can't overlook that. Whether it was a poor night from Barca, you've still got to score three against them.

"We will be ready for whatever. Two games again but we know what we want - to reach the final and we'll give it everything."

The perfect away performance from West Ham

Sky Sports' Charlotte Marsh:

"Ahead of any quarter-final second leg in Europe, there will be nerves. But perhaps the pressure was heightened a little given West Ham went into the game with five successive away defeats in all competitions, and made three changes to their defensive line-up from the first leg.

"But it proved to be that there was little to be concerned about as West Ham produced the perfect away performance to secure their place in the Europa League's final four.

"Despite the defensive changes, West Ham were there at every juncture to stop a talented Lyon attack that includes Moussa Dembele, Houssem Aouar and Karl Toko Ekambi. Even when they were at their best inside the opening half an hour, the Hammers stood up to every task.

"Perhaps one of Lyon's errors was trying to use the ball aerially too often. West Ham have some tall players in their ranks and won most of those battles in the air, even without the presence of Kurt Zouma to boost them further.

"At the other end, they took advantage of Lyon's own defensive shortcomings to devastating effect - all three of the scorers were unmarked for their goals.

"Craig Dawson was ahead of Dembele, Declan Rice had plenty of space at the top of the area to shape his shot and Jarrod Bowen's run was not tracked, or not until it was too late by Castello Lukeba.

"On all three occasions, West Ham took full advantage. West Ham had fewer shots, but more on target. Fourteen of Lyon's 17 shots were off-target or blocked, further demonstrating how well David Moyes' side defended.

"Then there was the simple things - West Ham simply wanted it more. Not since 1976 have they reached a European semi-final and at the end of every tie, you see how much reaching the next stage means to them.

"It could be a Hollywood ending for Mark Noble, with one of his final games potentially being the Europa League final in Seville on May 18. A winning goal in extra-time? Stranger things have happened."

'Grit and resilience runs through Moyes' West Ham'

Sky Sports News' Gail Davis:

"We've heard a lot about 'resilience' from David Moyes over the last few weeks. This was after all West Ham's 48th game of the season. It's a squad that wasn't strengthened in January. They are playing Thursday and then Sunday, balancing domestic and European ambitions, and they were forced to select a makeshift defence. Lyon's official Twitter account certainly didn't give them a hope: "Are you really asking like there's a chance we don't go through?" They weren't alone in that thinking.

"For those people, Moyes made the point that they can't have seen the Hammers play very much. They can't have seen the pre-match press conferences, either. Listening to Michail Antonio and Moyes before the game, it was a result that was never in doubt. Antonio in particular was upbeat, supremely confident and there was a steadfast belief that the side would deliver when it mattered. By contrast Lyon were short, flat and there was the lingering sense of what might have been.

"That boldness from West Ham wasn't for show. Two years ago, the club were only out of the relegation zone on goal difference when football shut down. Moyes described it as the moment for the club to reset. As a group they worked hard, really hard. They pulled together, appreciated the time they spent with each other and forged an incredible spirit.

"Their form at the beginning of the season with wins against Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham set the tone, and there have been challenges, but they've been overcome with toughness, grit, and above all, resilience. It's what runs through this side. It's what kept them in the tie when Aaron Cresswell got sent off at the end of the first-half last week at the London Stadium, and it is what might help them deliver European silverware this season.

"Resilience is also about adapting. There was so much talk about the absence of the injured Kurt Zouma in the build-up to the game, but Issa Diop looked assured. "He played really well and has never let us down," said Moyes after the game in Lyon. West Ham did have to overcome a nervy first 20 minutes and despite their heavy work load this season, they found another gear.

"Antonio's goal drought continues, but he was outstanding. Lyon simply had no answer to the way he held the ball up and brought other players into the game. "It's the best I have seen him play in a good few months," was his manager's assessment. Craig Dawson, or as West Ham prefer him to be called, 'Ballon d'Orson', stunned the stadium with his opener, and even before Declan Rice had scored the second and ran to the West Ham fans kissing the badge, Lyon were well and truly beaten. Pablo Fornals' perfectly weighted pass to Jarrod Bowen, who just over two years ago was playing for Hull really got the party going. Even Moyes said he might take a moment and savour the victory with a glass of wine.

"As Rice, who Moyes described as "brilliant", walked off after being substituted late on and went to applaud the travelling support, he had to avoid objects being thrown on the pitch by the Lyon fans. He took it in his stride, took his time and after all, what better way to answer that tweet? Moyes believes those fans, "should have been applauding one of the brightest upcoming midfielders in Europe, that's what football fans would do." That was perhaps the only shame that, at the end, when the players wanted to share the joy and ecstasy with each other and the fans, and cherish such a momentous moment in their and the club's history, Lyon fans were doing their best to ruin it in some pretty ugly scenes.

"If Fornals' smile at the post-match presser was anything to go by, they didn't succeed. Unlike other European games, the squad didn't fly straight back giving them a chance to take in as a group what they achieved. It will be only a brief chance as it's straight back to training today ahead of game number 49 against Burnley on Sunday. A little bit more resilience will be required with Moyes and his team determined to stay in the hunt for another European adventure next season."