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Explained: Why West Ham boss David Moyes called Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen 'disgraceful' after Europa League defeat

West Ham manager David Moyes labelled Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen a ‘disgrace’ after being condemned to a 2-0 defeat in the Europa League.

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  • West Ham beaten 2-0 by Leverkusen
  • Moyes frustrated with Leverkusen's bench
  • Remains confident team will make comeback next week
  • WHAT HAPPENED?

    Despite Leverkusen's incredible form heading to this match, West Ham were on course for a goalless draw until late substitutions Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface capitalised on a fatigued defence.

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    THE BIGGER PICTURE

    Moyes got infuriated at Leverkusen's bench and accused them of influencing the referee's decision to caution Paqueta following a foul on Amine Adli. It was the Brazilian's third yellow card of the competition, meaning he will miss the second leg alongside Emerson, we also went into the book.

  • WHAT MOYES SAID

    Speaking to reporters, Moyes said: "He will be a huge miss but I thought their bench was a disgrace. He got surrounded. I thought it was disgraceful and was really disappointing. You should let the referee make the decision and not the way they reacted to the incident. 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."

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  • ALONSO RUBBISHES MOYES' CLAIMS

    In response to Moyes' criticism, Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso dismissed the complaints and defended the referee's decision. He said: “I have a lot of respect for David but I think it was a deserved (yellow card) from the referee and we don’t focus on their bench.”

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