West Ham United gave Bayer Leverkusen "too much respect" in the first leg of their Europa League quarter final tie, which led to the elimination of the London side, according to Michail Antonio.
Leverkusen earned a 3-1 aggregate victory over the Hammers after winning the first leg 2-0 last week in Germany and drawing 1-1 in England on Thursday.
Yet it took an 89th-minute Jeremie Frimpong strike to rescue the draw for the Bundesliga champions, who still haven't lost a match across all competitions this season.
That West Ham were able to push Leverkusen to the brink of defeat in Thursday's match was more indicative of what the Premier League side are capable of, said Antonio, who scored in the 13th minute of the second leg.
"Obviously disappointed," Antonio told TNT Sports immediately following Thursday's second leg. "Last week we gave them a bit too much respect, but this week we came out and showed them what we can do.
"I felt like I didn't get a decision [from the officials] all game. I felt a bit frustrated. We felt like we deserved more. But it's football, sometimes the decisions don't go your way. We move on, and build on that and try to get into the Europa League next year.
"We put in a good performance, we had quite a few chances. Obviously they're a quality team. I'm disappointed with the way we played last week. We gave them too much respect."
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