West Ham boss David Moyes blasts 'disgraceful' Bayer Leverkusen over Lucas Paqueta's yellow card that rules forward out of second leg of Europa League quarter-final

West Ham boss David Moyes labelled Bayer Leverkusen’s bench a ‘disgrace’ and accused them of getting Lucas Paqueta booked.

Paqueta was shown a yellow card in the first half for a foul on Amine Adli, which Leverkusen’s players and bench reacted furiously too.

The forward’s caution, his 11th of the season, means he will miss the second leg next week, with West Ham facing an uphill task after their 2-0 defeat at the Bay Arena.

The only game the Hammers have won without Paqueta this season was against League One side Lincoln City in the third round of the League Cup.

‘He [Paqueta] be a huge miss but I thought their bench was a disgrace,’ Moyes said. ‘He [the referee] got surrounded. I thought it was disgraceful and was really disappointing.’

Asked whether he thought Leverkusen’s bench had earned Paqueta the yellow card, Moyes said: ‘I think so. You should let the referee make the decision and not the way they reacted to the incident.

‘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.’

Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso was asked to respond to Moyes’ comments and insisted the official had come to the right decision.

‘No I think it was a tackle which fully deserved a yellow card. It’s nothing to talk about disgraceful.

‘Respect to David but I think it was the right decision from the referee. We did our thing, we didn’t focus on their bench.’

Moyes believes his team are still in the tie despite their defeat on Thursday but admitted they will need a big performance next week.

‘We did a really good job defensively. We were aware of them scoring late goals in other games and they put us under intense pressure and we found it difficult.

‘We know we are playing a good team but we are not out of the tie. If we can get that first goal it will make a difference.

‘We knew we would always be without possession for long periods. We will need to do that a lot better in the second leg.

‘We were playing a Champions League team and a good one at that. We will have to come up trumps next week and the first thing we have to do is get one goal and take it from there.’