Speaking after his side fell to a 2-0 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League quarterfinal tie, Hammers boss David Moyes criticised the decision to book Lucas Paquetá and Emerson.
The duo will now miss the return fixture at London Stadium next week, in which West Ham must strive to score at least three goals against a Bayer Leverkusen side that is now unbeaten in 42 games.
‘We’re going to have to play better at home to give ourselves a chance,’ admitted Moyes in his post-match press conference. ‘We recognise the quality we’re playing against, but we’re just disappointed with another night of decisions not going particularly for us again.’
Embed from Getty Images‘I thought the yellow cards for Lucas Paquetá and Emerson were harsh. I think if our bench all ran and surrounded [the officials] they way they did, the whole bench came off and you’re not allowed to do that…I thought it was a really poor action from their bench.’
Moyes took a step back to reflect on the gulf in quality between his side and their German opponents, expressing that West Ham were ‘probably playing a Champions League team tonight. We qualified for the competition by winning the Conference League, so there’s probably a gap in the quality, which showed tonight.’
‘But we limited it for long periods, we did a good job of it, but we just need to find a way of getting back into the game,’ he added.
