West Ham’s latest European excursion is over after Bayer Leverkusen overcame a London Stadium scare to preserve their unbeaten record and reach the Europa League semi-finals
Michail Antonio faces a ban in Europe – if West Ham ever make it past Calais again – after a bitter swipe at the officials.
The Hammers’ latest crusade is over, but it took a cruel, spawny deflection to extinguish the flame after they rattled runaway German champions Bayer Leverkusen.
In fact, Antonio’s early header looked like giving the Irons a consolation prize of becoming the first team to beat Bundesliga winners in 44 games this season until substitute Jeremie Frimpong’s 89th-minute effort ricocheted off Aaron Cresswell beyond keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
West Ham were deservedly given a standing ovation on the final whistle, but Antonio didn’t mince his words in his post-match verdict of Spanish referee Jose Maria Sanchez’s bizarre performance – and it will probably cost him.
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He raged: ”I felt like I didn’t get a decision all game. I felt a bit frustrated. We felt like we deserved more. Sometimes the decisions don’t go your way. We move on, build on that and try to get into the Europa League next year.
“It doesn’t feel like you’re playing against 11 men, it feels like you’re playing against 13 or 14 including the two linos. You have to keep pushing and try and make the decisions go your way, but they just weren’t. We had to keep playing our way and keep being professional.
“We’re very proud of ourselves – three back-to-back years in European quarter-finals is unbelievable, I would never have thought that. We were a yo-yo team – into Europe, then fighting for relegation.”
Sanchez booked 11 players and sending off one coach from each bench, and Moyes hissed: “If that’s the way it is in Spain, you wouldn’t want to watch too much Spanish football.
“I have to say my players were brilliant tonight and I can’t fault their effort.”
Hammers boss Moyes hoped Leverkusen would still be leggy after their title celebrations four days earlier, and for 45 minutes his wish was granted. The Germans were rattled by Antonio’s header from Jarrod Bowen ’s cross and stumbled around the Queen Elizabeth II Olympic Park like a stag party at chucking-out time.
But any sober assessment of the Irons’ 37th European tie in three seasons should acknowledge that, over the two legs, they came up just short.
West Ham have enjoyed some memorable nights in Europe on Moyes’ watch, but only twice in their history – against Den Haag (in 1976) and Castilla (1980) have they retrieved a two-goal deficit from the first leg to progress. Moyes had accused the Leverkusen coaching chorus line of “disgraceful” conduct to get Lucas Paqueta booked – and suspended for the return leg – after the Hammers’ late collapse in the BayArena last week and there was no love lost again.
Billy McKinlay, Moyes’ senior coaching lieutenant, got involved in another spat with the away bench here, and he was shown the red card along with Sebastian Parrilla, one of Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso’s backroom staff. And when the hapless Sanchez’s back was turned, as he dealt with the squabbling factions in the dugouts, a rolling maul developed on the pitch.
Antonio was booked for his part in the shadow boxing, but after the break the German champions gained a measure of control and the Irons’ onslaught became more sporadic. Alonso, still chasing a Treble (Bundesliga, German Cup and Europa League), admitted: “I wasn’t nervous in the first half but I was worried – we weren’t feeling comfortable on the pitch. But over thetwo legs we deserved to go through.”
