After all, the only consolation for West Ham was that they were still alive. No one should mistake this for bad luck, even if Jarod Bowen was desperately sorry to hit the crossbar with a shot from above in added time. The reality is that Eintracht Frankfurt has dominated for a long time, and when David Moyes tackles his team’s confused performance, his main emotion will be relief that West Ham’s hopes of reaching the Europa League final have not been dashed.
West Ham also have something to improve before leaving for Germany next week. For starters, they will need to take much more care of the property. At times, West Ham simply seemed to raise the issue, almost as if the emotion of their first European semi-final in 46 years had distorted their focus, and despite all their efforts, it was hard to remember much of the control as they struggled to keep Eintracht , who will be disappointed that he did not leave with more than 2-1 lead.
For West Ham, the signs felt ominous from the moment the electrifying Ansgar Knauf put Eintracht ahead 50 seconds later. That was disgusting to Moses. West Ham tended not to score cheap goals, but never seemed comfortable with Eintracht’s counterattacks. There were many openings for the Bundesliga team and while West Ham struggled hard to equalize through Michael Antonio, it seemed appropriate that the winning goal came from Daichi Kamada, whose exquisite work with legs and an eye for a pass marked him as an outstanding player in the game.
The creative players of West Ham could not match Kamada. Pablo Fornals was disappointing and Manuel Lanzini’s touch escaped him. Bowen was a pest, but he lacked composure at crucial moments. Even the plays, so often a source of power for West Ham, were bad. “We didn’t show enough quality,” Moyes said. “Sometimes the opposition makes it difficult for you.”
Eintracht definitely did that. They were not intimidated by the passionate home crowd after beating Barcelona in the last round. Oliver Glasner’s players now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle.
It was a great goal, Kamada passed the ball to the left, Rafael Bore turned on the edge of the field. West Ham, encouraged by Kurt Zuma, returning from injury to his central defense partner Craig Dawson, didn’t seem to realize they were in trouble. There was too much room for Bore to turn, and when the striker sent a cross behind Fornals, it was almost as if he knew Knauf would reach the far post, rushing in from the right back to head past Alphonse Areola.
West Ham looked shocked. Had Moses returned Zuma too early? The defense seemed fierce, and it took a while for West Ham to shake their heads clearly. Even Declan Rice struggled to establish himself in the midfield, and there were times when Frankfurt, who were creating problems with their 3-4-2-1 initiative system, threatened to extend their lead.
Still, West Ham was fighting. They soon prevailed and the equalizer had to come when Antonio combined with Tomasz Soucek, who sent Bowen to compete. The low end of the wing looked good enough, only for Kevin Trapp, who aimed the shot at the left post.
Michael Antonio celebrates after scoring an equalizer for West Ham. Photo: Tom Jenkins / Guardian
West Ham returned, pressing again. The concern for Eintracht, who lacked the influential Christian Jakic and Evan Ndika, was how they would cope physically. It was easy to see why, when Lanzini took a free kick to the far post in the 21st minute, Zuma headed the door and Antonio hit West Ham with a volley from close range.
In the end, the tension was raised, Antonio threatened to score again after a mistake by Almami Toure, although Eintracht remained threatening at the break. Sometimes the West Ham players didn’t know who to take and it was hard not to feel for Aaron Creswell as the left-back struggled to keep up with Knauf, who kept making the same angle and almost regained Eintracht’s lead just before half-time. .
Eintracht was impressive. Their movement was too fast, their interaction too sharp. West Ham could not cope and fell behind again when Jibril Sow burst through the midfield after 54 minutes, played one or two with Jesper Lindström and tried to put a low shot past Areola, who parried the ball in the path of Kamada and looked helpless as the midfielder bounced back.
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West Ham had to do it all. While Saïd Benrahma trimmed the woodwork with a bending effort after replacing Lanzini, an equalizer rarely felt likely. More precision is required and the crowd shouts when Benrahma shoots Antonio without scars in the middle.
He summed up the evening at West Ham, although Eintracht will have his own doubts. Will they regret the reflected blow of Kamada, which hit the windows at 2-1? It was a huge escape for West Ham and they will take confidence from Eintracht’s average home form. This relationship is not over yet.
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