Michail Antonio believes that West Ham did a good job of containing Bayer Leverkusen for most of the match but admits how tough it was.

Despite the score line, there were plenty of performances to be proud of in West Ham’s 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. Lukasz Fabianski did a sensational job at keeping the ball out of Hammers’ net for much of the game and pulled off some unbelievable saves, Tomas Soucek defensive duties were key to keeping the game level until the 83rd minute, and Michail Antonio caused their defenders issues every time his side got forward.

Understandably, the Jamaican international was heartbroken with how West Ham’s hard work was completely undone from two set pieces, but confessed to how difficult of a match it was. We knew they were a good team before the game, and they showed that tonight,” Antonio told the official site. “It was tough out there, and you can see they have so much belief in how they play.”

“They constantly move the ball around, and they try to play through us and then suddenly they switch and go out wide. It was difficult to deal with, and the frustrating thing about the result is that we did deal with it for 83 minutes. We can’t get too down though – it is what it is, and we’ll have to come back fighting back at home next week.”

However, as tough as it will be to come back, Antonio was keen to point out that the tie is only halfway done and that there is still a chance that the Hammers can turn it around on home soil. “We can take positives from this first leg – we managed to create a couple of decent opportunities on the counter attack, and we’ve got a chance to come back.”

“We’re going to have to go for it, and hopefully we can do that for the fans. We’ve got two home games in a row now, and we’ll be looking to get the job done on all fronts.”

If our Irons can go and grab an early goal next week, then it is well and truly game on. With Paqueta, Emerson and potentially Bowen missing it will be an extremely difficult task – but this side have always done their best in the face of adversity.