Result
David Moyes’ West Ham United welcomed Eintracht Frankfurt to East London this evening, hopeful of keeping the club’s European dream alive and kicking.
The Irons no doubt headed into proceedings, though, very much aware of the threat posed by their surprise package opponents, who sent an in-form Barcelona packing from the competition at the quarter-final stage.
In turn, it came as little surprise when a pulsating 90 minutes featuring plenty of quality as well as goalscoring chances at both ends, ultimately played out.
In the end, though, it was the visitors who emerged triumphant, to gain the upper hand ahead of next week’s return leg in Germany.
Eintracht opened the evening’s scoring inside 60 seconds, when Ansgar Knauff continued to light up the European stage courtesy of a simple header from Filip Kostic’s pinpoint delivery:
Frankfurt stun West Ham inside the first 50 seconds 😮
Ansgar Knauff latches on to a sensational cross from Filip Kostic to score the opening goal…
A dream start for the German side.#UEL pic.twitter.com/s4TZCQqalS
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 28, 2022
West Ham, however, showcased their battling spirit to draw level 20 minutes later when Michail Antonio managed to get on the end of a Kurt Zouma header across goal:
WEST HAM ARE LEVEL! 👊
Michail Antonio makes sure at the back post!
Set pieces, they are ALWAYS dangerous at set pieces…#UEL pic.twitter.com/cBYCUuVrkP
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 28, 2022
But, as proved the case in the first-half, it was the Bundesliga outfit who emerged from the interval looking the better of the two sides, culminating in the superb Daichi Kamada rolling home what represented the game’s winner with 54 minutes on the clock:
Frankfurt re-take the lead and it’s a beautiful team move that produced the goal 👏
Daichi Kamada taps in the rebound after a great save from Areola in the West Ham goal.#UEL pic.twitter.com/m78WCnI92p
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 28, 2022
Player Ratings
West Ham United
Alphonse Areola – 5.5 – Could do little about either of Eintracht’s goals, even producing a fine save before Kamada’s key 2nd.
Ben Johnson – 5 – Was posed problems by the lively Kostic early on, but eventually settled on the defensive side of the ball. Disappointing in possession, though.
Craig Dawson – 5.5 – Struggled at times to deal with the fluidity of Eintracht’s football. Important block to guide a Kamada effort onto the post.
Kurt Zouma – 6.5 – An impressive display on his return from injury. Teed up hosts’ first-half equaliser and defended well.
Aaron Cresswell – 6 – Linked up with West Ham’s deep-lying midfielders whilst dealing well with Knauff’s threat after a shaky start.
Tomas Soucek – 5.5 – A quiet night for the most part but did set Bowen free to smash the post before directing a late headed chance well clear of the crossbar.
Declan Rice – 6 – Did his utmost to drive his side forward throughout the 2nd-half. Not his best display but perhaps unfortunate to be on the losing side.
Manuel Lanzini – 4.5 – The least impactful of West Ham’s attacking players on the day. Struggled to deal with the physicality of the visitors’ defenders.
Jarrod Bowen – 6.5 – A real live wire when in possession, the Hammers would have beneffited from getting their top score involved more frequently. Should have done better in striking the post with a glorious first-half opportunity, before seeing a stunning last-gasp bicycle kick come back off the crossbar.
Pablo Fornals – 5.5 – Lost track of Knauff for the game’s opener inside a minute. Otherwise solid if unspectacular.
Michail Antonio – 6.5 – Excellent hold-up and link-up play throughout the first-half but saw his influence fade badly as proceedings wore on. Nevertheless, his goal keeps West Ham’s hopes of a finale berth alive.
Substitutes
Said Benrahma – 6 – Added some much-needed impetus after being introduced off the bench. Unlucky to see a long-range effort strike the post.
Eintracht Frankfurt
Kevin Trapp – 6 – Solid in his handling but all told had little to do in terms of shot-stopping. Almost kept out Antonio’s strike.
Tuta – 7 – Dealt with the threat of West Ham’s attack with minimal fuss. Altogether solid.
Martin Hinteregger – 7.5 – Dealt with the threat of Antonio in impressive fashion as proceedings wore on. A real leader at the back.
Almamy Toure – 5.5 – The weakest of Eintracht’s defensive three, Bowen afforded Toure plenty of problems.
Djibril Sow – 7 – Clever run from midfield culminated in his side’s 2nd of the evening. Solid on both sides of the ball throughout.
Sebastian Rode – 6.5 – Went about his business with minimal fuss to represent a key factor in the away side winning the battle in the middle of the park.
Filip Kostic – 7.5 – Showcased his prowess from the left wing early on, whipping a number of dangerous deliveries into the West Ham area, as well as bagging an assist. Always a threat.
Ansgar Knauff – 7 – Bagged yet another goal after doing likewise in the Europa League’s last round versus Barcelona. Went close on more than one other occasion. The 20-year-old continues to put his name in the shop window.
Daichi Kamada – 8.5 – Another key element of Eintracht’s sleek attacking football. Capped off a fine individual display with what proved to be the decisive goal.
Jesper Lindstrom – 6 – Neat and tidy in possession but struggled to make any sort of meaningful impact on proceedings.
Rafael Borré – 7 – Posed little threat in front of goal, but his running with the ball, and defence=splitting pass leading to the visitors’ 2nd, were both of the highest quality.
Substitutes
Jens Petter Hauge – 5.5 – A quiet half-hour for the AC Milan loanee.
Ragnar Ache – N/A
What the fans said
Tonight has shown how far West Ham have come under David Moyes – the least effective Europa League performance of the season and still very much in the tie against Frankfurt. Two defensive errors the difference. Frustrating.
— Josh V (@WestHamJoshV) April 28, 2022
Not our night, credit to Frankfurt they beat us at our own game, with all the excitement it was easy to forget there’s another team in this tie that want that Cup as much as we do. Good effort and on another night would have scored 1-2 more, still in this ⚒
— #GSBOUT Hugh Moore (@HughMoore1997) April 28, 2022
all to play for but for a European semi final there were some lackluster performances
— Ben (@whubenbagged) April 28, 2022
Woodwork 3 times pic.twitter.com/s45JmitQ3J
— Jimmy Gallagher (@jgallagher1515) April 28, 2022
Eintracht were excellent. Only saw the second half and Kamada up front looked a real threat.
— Richard Whitehead (@Richw1677) April 28, 2022
Eintracht Frankfurt are a HUGE club, another great performance that deserves praise
— ꅐꆂꂑꁕ¹⁷ (@17woid) April 28, 2022
What you may have missed
As proved the case in Catalunya in the competition’s last round, Eintracht Frankfurt’s supporters made their presence very much known in London this evening…
The amount of Eintracht Frankfurt fans at West Ham is unbelievable… 😳🔥pic.twitter.com/00w4uUUh2f
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) April 28, 2022
