West Ham's Europa League hopes left in tatters after late collapse vs Bayer Leverkusen
West Ham United have been left with a mountain to climb in the Europa League following a 2-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. The Hammers held firm for 83 minutes until substitute Jonas Hoffman finally broke through, beating goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
David Moyes' side might have held out hope for the second leg at the London Stadium with a one-goal deficit, especially against an unbeaten team. However, their hopes of reaching a third consecutive European semi-final were dashed when Victor Boniface, another substitute, headed home Hofmann's cross in stoppage time.
Adding to the Hammers' woes, Lucas Paqueta received a yellow card, ruling him out of the second leg. The East Londoners were already without top scorer Jarrod Bowen due to injury and Edson Alvarez through suspension.
The game could have taken a different turn in the seventh minute when Patrik Schick flicked Josip Stanisic's wayward shot towards goal, but it went straight to Fabianski. Leverkusen were given a taste of West Ham's counter-attacking threat when Michail Antonio outran Jonathan Tah on the left wing, setting up Mohammed Kudus for the best chance of the first half.
However, Kudus' first-time strike was comfortably saved by Matej Kovar. West Ham found themselves largely confined to their own penalty area, with Fabianski forced to deflect Jeremie Frimpong's curler and Exequiel Palacios's drive.
Paqueta's overly zealous tackle on Amine Adli earned him a booking the Brazilian narrowly avoided a red card and sparked a minor touchline scuffle. Fabianski may have anticipated a busy evening, and he wasn't wrong, pulling off significant saves to deny Alejandro Grimaldo, Shick and Edmond Tapsoba.
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