On Thursday evening, Bayer Leverkusen overcame West Ham United 2-0 at the BayArena to take a positive lead into their second leg at London Stadium. With the game entering the final stages, it appeared that the Premier League outfit had done enough to frustrate Die Werkself and hold onto what would have been a vital 0-0 draw.
However, two late goals from Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface ensured that the soon-to-be Bundesliga champions made the most of their home advantage. Nevertheless, while the goals would arrive in the second half, sparks were certainly flying in the first.
West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta fouled Amine Adli just outside the Leverkusen dugout, leading to Alonso and the rest of the Werkself bench expressing their displeasure. After the match, West Ham head coach David Moyes commented on the incident:
“The bench was a disgrace. The whole bench ran onto the pitch. I don’t think we would have behaved like that and all jumped up from the bench. They shouldn’t have reacted like that.”
Alonso was then informed of Moyes’ remarks and responded by saying: “It was a foul; there was a yellow card. It was deserved. We all stood up. We have the right to do that. Respect for David, but it was the right decision from the referee to give the yellow card. We concentrated on ourselves and didn’t pay attention to the other bench.”
Ultimately, the yellow card received by Paqueta rules him out of the second leg in the English capital through suspension. As for the respective head coaches, it will be interesting to see if the animosity carries over into next Thursday as West Ham look to turn the tie around.
GGFN | Will Shopland
