Xabi Alonso has dismissed David Moyes’ claim that Bayer Leverkusen were ‘disgraceful’ during their 2-0 win over West Ham in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
Late goals from Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface sealed the victory for the Bundesliga leaders in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie.
West Ham, meanwhile, will be without Lucas Paqueta for the return fixture in London next week due to suspension after the midfielder received a yellow card in the defeat to Leverkusen.
Moyes was furious with Leverkusen’s conduct on the touchline and accused the opposition of influencing referee Artur Dias.
‘He [Paqueta] will be a huge miss but I thought their bench was a disgrace,’ said Moyes.
‘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.’
But when asked about Moyes’ assessment on Leverkusen’s conduct, Alonso said: ‘Oh no, I think it was a tackle that deserved a yellow card. It was fully deserved.
‘I think David’s talking with the fourth official a lot of times, we all do, I do as well.
‘It’s nothing to talk about disgraceful. I think that we have all the right, he has to see his bench as well.
‘I have respect for David but I thought it was the right decision from the referee. We did our thing, we didn’t focus on the other bench.’
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