West Ham’s Cresswell and Moyes see red as Frankfurt reaches the Europa League final

The disappointment was too much for West Ham in the end. Even David Moyes had lost control of his emotions as a demoralizing night deep in the German woods came to an end.

Any thought of Moyes’s side mounting a heroic comeback was long gone and while it was impossible to fault West Ham’s effort, nothing summed up their lack of composure better than seeing their manager sent off for kicking the ball in a ball boy during the death stages.

The pain was too raw. It was beautiful while it lasted, but there will be no glorious ending in Seville later this month. For Moyes, who has never won a trophy as a coach, this stung. He knew that West Ham had squandered their chance to reach the Europa League final. They weren’t good enough in the first leg and their hopes of turning it around here were dashed after Aaron Cresswell’s reckless red card gave Eintracht Frankfurt the initiative, sealing a 3-1 aggregate win thanks to the goal. by Rafael Santos Borre.

Moyes had spoken about the need for West Ham to run the game. There were also attempts at mind games from the Scotsman when he suggested that Frankfurt might struggle to protect their lead in the first leg. However, this wonderfully atmospheric stadium was bouncing well before kick-off and, given the noise generated by the home fans, it was even possible to wonder if it was part of the show when a small fire broke out at the end housing the Frankfurt ultras, until that a few stewards rushed to deal with the fire seven minutes into the game.

It looked like it was going to be that kind of night. By this time, Frankfurt had already lost their influential centre-back Martin Hinteregger after he injured his knee due to a challenge from Michail Antonio.

It looked like a huge blow for the hosts who realigned their three defenses by bringing in Almamy Touré, and at the time the signs were good for West Ham, who enjoyed plenty of possession during the early stages and seemed capable of creating chances.

However, disaster was looming. It was galling for Moyes to see one of his most experienced players gift Frankfurt the initiative with a 17th-minute challenge. West Ham couldn’t afford any wrong moves and Cresswell had no one but himself to blame when he failed. was able to deal with a hopeful clearance, the slightest hint of hesitation from the left-back was enough to give Jens Petter Hauge a chance to steal possession and break through. in goal

Cresswell took too long to respond. Hauge was much more assertive. The Norwegian had made his mark and the only surprise was that Jesús Gil Manzano, the Spanish referee, initially issued a yellow card when Cresswell dragged the Frankfurt striker just outside the area.

Everyone could see that it was a denial of a scoring opportunity for Cresswell, who had learned nothing from being sent off for the same offense against Lyon in the previous round. Frankfurt appealed for a red and the result was inevitable as Manzano was told to check the pitch monitor: Cresswell had to make a long, lonely walk down the tunnel and, although West Ham survived Filip Kostic who hit the resulting free kick wide, , It already seemed inconceivable that Frankfurt would not progress.

The numerical advantage was soon counted. West Ham adjusted after being down to 10 men, shoring up their defense by replacing Manuel Lanzini with Ben Johnson, but it wasn’t enough. Frankfurt, who had only won once at home since Christmas, simply had too much space.

They kept the ball moving and were ahead after splitting West Ham in the 26th minute, Ansgar Knauff dribbled past Johnson on the right and returned the ball for Borré to beat Alphonse Areola with a low shot.

At least West Ham kept fighting. Antonio threatened, nearly running before Evan Ndicka stepped in with a good challenge. Hope flared. Another Antonio run ended with Ndicka being booked for a brutal lunge on the striker and the equalizer almost came when Jarrod Bowen’s free kick hit Kurt Zouma, who was unable to pass the ball over the line.

However, West Ham did not have enough options in attack without Lanzini on the pitch. Pablo Fornals was rarely involved and Bowen saw little of the ball.

Frankfurt were comfortable. His intensity made life uncomfortable for West Ham and epitomized the pattern of play when Declan Rice tried to surge into midfield early in the second half, only to be hit hard and lose the ball as he tried to pass it to Bowen.

It wasn’t going to be and the challenge now for West Ham is to make sure this isn’t the end of it. This is a good piece of equipment that just needs a bit of quality. Summer will be essential. It is an opportunity to move forward, to continue to build around Rice, to ensure that these occasions are not unique. For now, however, all there will be is pain.