Europa League

TEMPERS flared on the touchline as a West Ham coach was sent-off during their clash with Bayer Leverkusen.The freshly-crowned German champions emerged triumphant as tonight’s 1-1 draw earned them a 3-1 aggregrate victory and a place in the Europa League semis.A touvchline row erupted between West Ham and Leverkusen’s staffCredit: TNT SportsJust as the ref restored order the players started a huge scuffle on the pitchThe visitors headed to the London Stadium with a 2-0 aggregate lead for the Europa League quarter final second leg.Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen remained unbeaten in all competitions this term but they found themselves behind early doors in the East End.Michail Antonio got the Hammers off to a dream start as he broke the deadlock on 13 minutes.However, the blood and thunder clash then saw tensions boil over just before the half hour mark.Suddenly, several members from both the West Ham and Leverkusen benches started pushing and shoving and dishing out the verbals on the sidelines.Eventually, the referee dished out a red card to David Moyes’ coach Billy McKinlay.A member of the away side’s staff was also dismissed.However, while the officials were sorting out that trouble, more erupted back on the pitch.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSGoalscorer Antonio and opposition star Jonathan Tah were suddenly going head-to-head, sparking another melee between the players.Alonso attempted to try and restore order and subbed off Odilon Kossounou.West Ham boss David Moyes slams Bayer Leverkusen’s bench as ‘a disgrace’ for what they did during fiery clashBut the game remained on a knife-edge throughout the rest of the first half.The Hammers huffed and puffed for a way back but Jeremie Frimpong’s late leveller even denied them the consolation of becoming the first side to beat Leverkusen.That comes after Moyes hit out at Alonso and his staff following the first leg as he labelled them a “disgrace”.Hammers duo Lucas Paqueta and Emerson were suspended for tonight after picking up their third yellows in the competition last week.The Brazilian midfielder picked up the booking for a rash challenge on Amine Adli.Leverkusen’s players and bench were furious over the tackle, surrounding the referee and pushing Paqueta.After the game, Moyes fumed at the reaction from the soon to be Bundesliga champions, saying: “He will be a huge miss but I thought their bench was a disgrace.“He [the referee] got surrounded. I thought it was disgraceful and was really disappointing.“Did they get him booked? I think so. You should let the referee make the decision and not the way they reacted to the incident.READ MORE SUN STORIES“I thought it was a rule all the way through. We would not all run off and surround him.“It was a poor thing for them to do and they are a good side and they didn’t need to react like that.” More

WEST HAM almost ended Bayer Leverkusen’s incredible unbeaten season but suffered Europa League quarter-final anguish.”Typical West Ham”, many fans will have uttered on their way out.Jeremie Frimpong celebrates his late leveller on the night to clinch a semi-final spotCredit: APTempers boiled over in a heated second leg showdownA miracle was needed and for some time after Michail Antonio’s early goal felt like it could come.But Leverkusen sub Jeremie Frimpong then fired home a deflected leveller on the night after 89 minutes to clinch a 3-1 aggregate triumph for the newly-crowned German champions.But while David Moyes’ side made a good go of it, this was another night where a limited squad and lack of options came back to bite the Hammers.West Ham managed just one of the three goals they needed against the newly crowned Bundesliga champions – who had not lost in 43 games across all competitions before last night.READ MORE TOP STORIESTheir remarkable three-year European tour is over and only a superb end to the Premier League season can bring about a fourth year.Unlike Xabi Alonso, and just like last week, Moyes did not have anyone to send on to push on.Questions should and will be asked about the decision to let Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals leave without replacements in January.While Moyes was without Lucas Paqueta and Emerson Palmieri through suspension, the Scot was able to welcome Jarrod Bowen back from injury.Most read in Europa LeagueCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSFrimpong lashed home via a deflection on 89 minutesCredit: GettyThe England man’s return, having trained just once after a back injury, notched up the faint hopes of a famous comeback – as did Leverkusen’s raucous celebrations after winning the Bundesliga title on Sunday.Pre-match pyro and talk of Sevilla two years ago had the home support at their loudest early on.Emiliano Martinez receives second yellow card during Aston Villa penalty shoot out – but DOESN’T get sent off With that backing, West Ham showed more attacking intent in the opening ten minutes here than across the entire first leg – and it paid off.Odilon Kossounou, one of three Leverkusen changes from last Thursday, had already picked up a daft yellow for cutting down James Ward-Prowse before handing the Hammers the ball to halve the deficit.His terrible clearance was collected by Tomas Soucek to get things going, Bowen cut in from the right and lifted an inviting cross into the middle where Antonio rose easily above Kossounou to head in past Matej Kovar.The Leverkusen keeper was scrambling minutes later too, just holding on to a deflected effort from Mohammed Kudus before stopping another Antonio header.Kovar was diving left and right – with one of his stops even leaving Moyes on his back in the technical area.Kudus picked out Bowen alone at the far post but his effort from yards out was stopped by Kovar’s boot.West Ham had been targeting Kossounou and getting so much joy that Alonso hooked him after just 28 minutes.Alonso insisted that there would be no hangovers from their beer-fuelled title party, but his players hardly looked sober at times in the first half.The Hammers had Leverkusen on the ropes, but were close to losing their heads.As Spanish ref Jose Maria Sanchez was sending off two coaches, West Ham’s Billy McKinlay and Sebastian Parrilla from Leverkusen, Antonio and Jonathan Tah sparked a massive brawl after the Hammers striker tried to delay a free-kick.Michail Antonio’s early goal gave West Ham hope but in vainCredit: RexCalm was restored for a spell afterwards and the Hammers kept creating chances, forcing mistakes from a team chasing invincibility.Edson Alvarez’s shot was frustratingly blocked by Antonio before Coufal’s follow-up was saved.Having already made one change in the first half, there were two more from Alonso at the break. It was his bench which had made all the difference a week earlier and the Spaniard was counting on it again.By contrast, Moyes did not even fill every spot on his bench, with six academy kids named among the substitutes. It was going to need an almighty effort from the Hammers to keep this up, having already lost Nayef Aguerd to an ankle injury before the break.The changes improved Leverkusen, but Antonio was still a threat going the other way and was denied a string of good shouts for a free-kick.As more decisions went against West Ham, and the referee needlessly imposed himself on the second half, the hope drained away from the home support just as the energy was leaving the legs of those left out there.READ MORE SUN STORIESNonetheless, Frimpong’s lucky leveller was a cruel way for Euro elimination to be confirmedThere was little West Ham could regret from the second-leg, their late collapse in Leverkusen – conceding that second goal – was the real killer.Antonio hails his breakthrough with Jarrod Bowen but was out of luck laterCredit: AFP More