Moyes’ boys have it all to do in Germany
Their luck is out as they hit woodwork three times
WEST HAM arrived in the mood to party like it was 1976. There was no downpour on this occasion, no mud bath.
There was no Upton Park either but there was a fair din and the old heroes were back, led out at half-time by Sir Trevor Brooking, leaning on the old memories to generate some new ones.
Brooking — looking positively presidential with his sun tan and silver-hair — caught the spirit of the night in his half-time natter on the pitch. Yes, they beat Eintracht Frankfurt all those years ago, the last time they made it to a European semi-final. Yes, it would mean so much to beat them again and reach the final, maybe claim the trophy, but this was not going to be easy.
Wise words, indeed. This was not a formality based on history, or the assumption that the Premier League is so much stronger than the Bundesliga.
Few present needed this explanation, however. Not after the opening minute of the contest, when the Germans swept into the lead, a goal which was perhaps the perfect antidote to all the dusty nostalgia.
In the blink of an eye, West Ham were firmly back in the present. In the thick of this, the 11th fixture of an epic campaign that has already featured impressive fightbacks to overcome Sevilla and Lyon in the knockout stages.
Here was another test of character. And they rose to it, fighting back to equalise through Michail Antonio before half-time.
They were the better side for periods of the game — only to wobble at the back and concede again early in the second half.
There was very nearly a third for the visitors in the closing stages when they hit the woodwork. That might have been too much for David Moyes and his team to swallow without damaging their belief. Then, in stoppage time, Jarrod Bowen, who hit the post in the first half, rattled the bar with an overhead kick.
Kurt Zouma returned to the relief of West Ham fans — his cat-kicking crimes put aside for the time being but Eintracht struck inside 50 seconds, with wing-back Ansgar Knauff drifting past Pablo Fornals on the run to beat Alphonse Areola with a fabulous header at the back post.
But Moyes’s team have learned to ride setbacks and respond, and they recovered quickly, settling into their rhythm and forcing the visitors to defend.
Bowen was first to find the woodwork, hitting the post. Sent racing clear by a pass from Tomas Soucek, Bowen poked a low shot towards goal. It clipped goalkeeper Kevin Trapp on its way past and diverted against the frame of the goal. The rebound spun agonisingly away from Pablo Fornals as he tried to pounce.
In the 21st minute, they found an equaliser. Zouma headed a free-kick back across goal and Antonio at full stretch hooked a volley towards the net with his right foot. Trapp clawed it away but it was already across the line. The bubbles flew once again. The home crowd roared their support. Level, back where they started the night and now painfully aware of the goal threat of Eintracht. They are ninth, off the pace in the Bundesliga but nicely balanced, cohesive and quick to break.
Knauff almost scored his second, firing wide on the turn after a brisk counter attack sprang out of defence stretched the West Ham back line and allowed him space in the penalty area to engineer another effort at goal.
They sliced through the claretand-blue ranks once again when they returned for the second half. Djibril Sow burst through, his shot was blocked by Areola but spilled out for Daichi Kamada to tap into an open net. There was a pause as Kamada’s position was checked for offside. But he was on and the goal stood.
Moyes, searching once more for parity, made his first change, sending on Said Benrahma to replace Manuel Lanzini.
It almost drew instant dividends as Benrahma was just wide from distance. Kamada hit the frame of the goal at the other end, in the closing stages, a shot which deflected off Dawson, beat Areola and hit the post. Then Bowen’s spectacular bicycle kick rattled the crossbar. West Ham remain alive in the tie but only just. WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Areola 5.5; Johnson 5.5, Dawson 5.5, Zouma 5.5, Cresswell 5.5; Soucek 5.5, Rice 6; Bowen 6, Lanzini 6 (Benrahma 66min, 6), Fornals 6; Antonio 6. Scorer: Antonio 21. Manager: D Moyes 5.5. EINTRACHT FRANKFURT (3-4-2-1): Trapp 6; Tuta 6.5, Hinteregger 6.5, Toure 6.5; Knauff 7, Sow 6.5, Rode 6, Kostic 6.5; Lindstrom 6 (Hauge 62, 6), KAMADA 7.5; Borre 6.5 (Ache 90). Scorers: Knauff 1, Kamada 54. Booked: Sow, Hinteregger. Manager: O Glasner 7. Referee: Serdar Gozubuyuk (Holland) 6.