Michail Antonio faces UEFA ban after brutal attack on referee following West Ham exit

West Ham ace Michail Antonio is staring down the barrel of a UEFA suspension after lashing out at the match officials following their Europa League departure. The Hammers' European journey came to an end, but not without controversy, as a fortuitous deflection dashed their hopes against Bayer Leverkusen, despite a valiant effort.

Antonio's early goal nearly secured West Ham the honour of being the first team to defeat the Bundesliga champions this season, until Jeremie Frimpong's late strike took a lucky bounce off Aaron Cresswell and past goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Despite the disappointment, the team was applauded off the pitch, yet Antonio spared no criticism for referee Jose Maria Sanchez's contentious officiating in his post-match comments, which could now land him in hot water. He fumed: "I felt like I didn't get a decision all game. I felt a bit frustrated. We felt like we deserved more. Sometimes the decisions don't go your way. We move on, build on that and try to get into the Europa League next year.

"It doesn't feel like you're playing against 11 men, it feels like you're playing against 13 or 14 including the two linos. You have to keep pushing and try and make the decisions go your way, but they just weren't. We had to keep playing our way and keep being professional," reports the Mirror.

"We're very proud of ourselves - three back-to-back years in European quarter-finals is unbelievable, I would never have thought that. We were a yo-yo team - into Europe, then fighting for relegation."

Sanchez left the game with 11 bookings and a coach from each side dismissed, making Moyes seethe: "If that's the way it is in Spain, you wouldn't want to watch too much Spanish football. There were excellent performances