Massive Fight between West Ham and Bayer Leverkusen Results in Double Red Card
This article contains affiliate links, and we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more. A furious brawl broke out on the London Stadium pitch in the first half of West Ham’s Europa League tie with Bayer Leverkusen. After Michail Antonio opened the scoring to halve the Hammers’ two-goal deficit from the first leg, a melee involving the majority of players and coaching staff broke out.
The referee brandished two red cards, and an incident on the sidelines between both benches saw a red card delivered to each team, though neither were for Xabi Alonso or David Moyes. Goalscorer Antonio and Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah clashed and sparked a brawl between players. Thereafter, Alonso attempted to calm the storm before Odilon Kossounou was substituted off for Edmond Tapsoba. Both Tah and Antonio were booked for their roles in the altercation, though received a less severe punishment than Hammers coach Billy McKinlay, who was sent off as the tie descended into chaos.
McKinlay could be seen gesturing in the face of one member of Leverkusen’s staff, although it is unknown what caused the frenzy in the dugout before it spilt out onto the pitch. It remains to be seen whether the two incidents were related to one another, as the match official had eased the fury between the two sets of coaches but Antonio and Kossounou soon began wrestling and had to be broken up by their team-mates. The hosts got off to a dream start when some smart work by the returning Jarrod Bowen set Antonio up to head past goalkeeper Matej Kovar and send the home crowd into pandemonium. West Ham would need to hand their opponents a first defeat of the season to reach the semi-finals, however, after Alonso’s outfit stormed the Bundesliga title and were unbeaten in all competitions before their trip to London.
