West Ham suffered a 2-1 defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt in their UEFA Europa League semifinal first leg. Elsewhere, RB Leipzig overcame a resolute Rangers side, thanks to an 85th-minute wonder goal.
David Moyes’s men have a deficit to make up when they travel to Frankfurt next week. The Hammers suffered a 2-1 loss to the Bundesliga outfit in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League semifinal despite being the more dominant side on the night.
Frankfurt opened the scoring only 49 seconds after the kick-off. The visitors came pouring forward within the opening seconds, and the ball was played into the feet of striker Rafael Santos Borre as he drifted out to the left. The Colombian delivered a teasing, inswinging cross to the back post, where it was headed in by the on-loan Ansgar Knauff for the lead.
A well-worked set-piece brought the Hammers back level in the 21st minute. Manuel Lanzini curved a cross to the far post, where Kurt Zouma rose highest to head the ball across the goal and into the path of Michail Antonio, who poked it in from close range.
Daichi Kamada restored Frankfurt’s lead in the 54th minute. The Japan international was left with a simple tap-in from close range after Djibril Sow had drawn a superb, low save from Alphonse Areola following a give-and-go with Jesper Lindstrom that split open the West Ham defence.
United poured forward in search of the equalizer again, and a 90th-minute bicycle kick from Jarrod Bowen was as close as they would get on the night.
In the other semifinal, RB Leipzig broke Rangers’ resistance, thanks to Angelino’s wonder goal in the 85th minute.
The Bundesliga side should have taken the lead in the 70th minute through the in-form Christopher Nkunku. The Frenchman dribbled his way into the opposition box and took a touch to take the ball beyond goalkeeper Allan McGregor – but put his subsequent shot over the bar.
It was an Nkunku corner, though, which would provide the breakthrough for the German side; a tame header to clear the corner from Fashion Sakala fell into the feet of Angelino, who slammed the ball past McGregor from outside the box on the volley. Just the single goal in the tie, but an all-important one for the German outfit.
