West Ham United have been dealt a true hammer blow ahead of the Europa League second-leg clash with Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayer Leverkusen played host to West Ham in the first-leg of the Europa League quarter-finals tonight, with the second-leg set to take place at the London Stadium next week.
David Moyes set out his stall very clearly tonight. The Scot allowed the Bundesliga side to have the ball for the majority of the game.
That in itself was no surprise at all. However, what was surprising was how well we defended on the night.
Then we had the likes of Michail Antonio, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus causing Leverkusen all sorts of problems on the counter.
I was mightily impressed by just how solid and organised we were at the back against the Germans. In fact, it was a really professional performance all round.
Moyes has received plenty of stick from some sections of the West Ham fans this season, but he got his game-plan spot on tonight.
That said, we were dealt a huge blow during the game…
West Ham dealt hammer blow ahead of Bayer Leverkusen second-leg
Overall, it was a very good night for the Hammers at BayArena. Leverkusen have been unstoppable in the Bundesliga this season, so the fact we made it so hard for them was really impressive.
However, there was one really bad bit of news on the night for us.
Lucas Paqueta and Emerson Palmieri will now miss the second-leg against Bayer Leverkusen next week through suspension, as confirmed via UEFA.
We warned you before the game about the danger of losing Paqueta and Emerson to suspension, if they picked up a booking tonight.
And that is obviously what happened. The Brazilian picked up a yellow card inside the first-half against Leverkusen tonight after making a really silly challenge, and then the Italian followed suit in the second-half.
Having Paqueta and Emerson unavailable next week really is a massive blow for us. The former Lyon man makes us tick and is a great outlet for our defenders when we’re under the cosh, whilst the 29-year-old is vitally important to us down our left hand side.
Their ability to hold onto the ball against a side that likes to suffocate their opposition by controlling possession will be greatly missed.
The Bayer Leverkusen second-leg clash is an absolutely vital one for West Ham, and our task of progressing through to the semi-finals has been made that little bit harder after the yellow cards picked up by Paqueta and Emerson tonight.
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