West Ham received two red cards as their Europa League dream came to a frustrating end with a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Hammers came into the semi-final second leg following the 2-1 defeat to the Bundesliga side last Thursday. In that game, early goals in each half proved pivotal for the visitors.
Over in Germany, it was a similar story as Aaron Cresswell saw red after 17 minutes for West Ham. Shortly after, Rafael Borre scored the crucial goal to make it 1-0 and 3-1 overall in the tie.
West Ham pushed to get back into the game but bar a clearance off the line, they produced little of note. However, Frankfurt’s resilient defence – led by Evan Ndicka – was impressive. And to make matters worse, Hammers boss David Moyes also saw red as the visitors’ frustrations boiled over in the second half.
West Ham won the first corner, putting Frankfurt on an early back foot. What’s more, injury to key defender Martin Hinteregger gave the German side another headache.
The Hammers then sought to get Michail Antonio in behind but didn’t create any real clear-cut chances.
And while Frankfurt’s numerical disadvantage with Hinteregger was only temporary, West Ham had to stay with 10 men after Cresswell’s red card.
The left-back battled to keep up with Jens Hauge’s good run towards goal, chasing a ball over the top. However, Cresswell got the wrong side and brought Hauge down. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano consulted the VAR monitor and subsequently showed Cresswell the red instead of an initial yellow.
That was the Englishman’s second sending-off in the knockout stages. He received his marching orders in the 1-1 quarter-final first leg against Lyon.
But despite West Ham recovering from that setback to advance into the semi-finals, this proved a step too far with Frankfurt already a goal ahead on aggregate.
And they made it 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate when Rafael Borre and Ansgar Knauff combined.
Frankfurt deliver crucial West Ham…
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