West Ham United

10-man West Ham claim draw from first leg of Europa League quarter-final with Lyon

Jarrod Bowen celebrates in front of Tomas Soucek, Nikola Vlasic, Pablo Fornals and Declan Rice

West Ham United earned a draw from the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Lyon, despite playing half the match with 10 men.

Aaron Cresswell saw red just before half-time, when the scoreline was still 0-0. Jarrod Bowen proceeded to put West Ham ahead after the break, only for Tanguy Ndombele to get Lyon level again. It leaves the tie delicately poised ahead of next week’s return fixture in France.

At the London Stadium, the first half-decent chance fell to Lyon. A cross from Lucas Paqueta picked out Moussa Dembele, but he could not untangle his body to get an effort on target.

But it was Lyon’s Anthony Lopes who had to make the first save of the game, preventing a shot from Said Benrahma.

At the other end, ex-Tottenham Hotspur man Ndombele took aim from outside the box, but fired off target.

For West Ham, Declan Rice also had an attempt from the edge of the area, which rolled along the ground. Lopes was able to stop it with relative ease.

As half-time approached, things took a turn for West Ham when they were reduced to 10 men. A through ball from Houssem Aouar set Dembele away, only for Cresswell to tug him down. The referee brandished a straight red card.

David Moyes received a yellow card for his own protests as the referees walked down the tunnel. The West Ham manager responded by withdrawing Benrahma for Ben Johnson to retain a back four for the second half.

West Ham strike first but later pegged back

The hosts took the lead within the first 10 minutes after the re-start. Bowen received the ball in the box after it was mis-controlled by Jerome Boateng, and then managed to finish with the help of a deflection off the same Lyon defender.

Another long-distance effort from Ndombele could have cancelled the deficit, but once again the Lyon midfielder aimed wide.

However, the Frenchman did turn out to be the goalscorer of Lyon’s equaliser when it came in the 66th minute. Alphonse Areola could only parry a cross onto Ryan Fredericks, off whom the ball deflected to fall into Ndombele’s path for a tap in.

West Ham had to withstand some pressure in the closing stages. Areola made stops of varying comfort from Paqueta and Emerson Palmieri.

Neither side could find a second goal of their own, though, despite eight minutes of additional time. Therefore, they will reconvene in France next week with it all to play for.

READ MORE: West Ham tracking could pay off for £8m defender in Newcastle, Everton crosshairs

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