David Moyes hits out at Bayer Leverkusen after West Ham United loss in Europa League
David Moyes aimed a dig at Bayer Leverkusen’s coaching team after West Ham United assistant manager Billy McKinlay was sent off in the Europa League defeat on Thursday.
After a heated altercation with the opposition coaching staff, the Hammers’ assistant was sent to the stands in the second leg of the 3-1 aggregate defeat at the London Stadium.
As he booked the coaches, Michail Antonio tried to grab the ball from Odlion Koussounou causing a brawl. As seen on TNT Sports, via X, this involved almost every player on the pitch.
West Ham striker Antonio and the Jonathan Tah were then booked for their involvement in the melee.
It is unclear what started the disagreement between McKinlay and the Leverkusen bench but it caused plenty of drama.
“I watch a lot of Spanish football and I’ve worked in Spain so I’ve got an idea of what it’s like,” said Moyes, as quoted by the Daily Mail on 19 April.
“But if that’s the way it is, you wouldn’t want to be watching a lot of Spanish games.”
How did Michail Antonio perform for West Ham v Bayer Leverkusen?
Although the Hammers weren’t able to overturn the 2-0 deficit from the first leg, their performance has plenty of positives.
Moyes’ side had less possession than Leverkusen once again but turned what they had into chances as they registered 1.56 xG compared to the away side’s 1.10 [FotMob].
They played in a more attacking manner which saw them get at Xabi Alonso’s side and cause problems for them.
Antonio got on the scoresheet after just 13 minutes and had a positive performance throughout the 90 minutes. He managed three shots which caused problems for the Leverkusen defense and Matej Kovar.
It must be said that in terms of duels, he won just three of 16 while he failed to make a single tackle throughout [FotMob].
The team performance was superb but the Jamaican may have demanded slightly more from himself on the night.
It was a showing to be proud of even if they were knocked out of the Europa League.
In other West Ham news, Michael Owen has been left fuming amid a recent controversy in London involving the Hammers.
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