Eintracht Frankfurt through to UEFA Europa League final after victory against West Ham
Eintracht Frankfurt will contest their first major European final since 1980 after the Eagles completed their UEFA Europa League semi-final mission against the ten men of West Ham United, Rafael Borre scoring the second-leg match winner to set up a Seville showdown with Glasgow Rangers.
Boasting a 2-1 lead from last week's first leg in London, Eintracht were greeted by a spectacular welcome from the home fans at Deutsche Bank Park. In an opening half that would provide those supporters with plenty to celebrate, there was first some early disappointment with Martin Hinteregger limping out of the contest with a hamstring injury after just eight minutes. Further drama would soon follow. Chasing a long ball over the top, Jens Petter Hauge felt himself being grappled to the floor by Aaron Cresswell. With the Eintracht man down, the hosts protested furiously. Hauge would have been through on goals with a scoring opportunity but for the foul. The referee raced across to check his monitor, and sprinted back just as quickly to raise a red card for the West Ham man. Suddenly finding themselves playing with a man advantage, Frankfurt then had a goal advantage on the night too, Borre sweeping home Ansgar Knauff's cutback to increase the Eagles' aggregate lead to 3-1.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, a second-half onslaught still might have been expected from the visiting team. Perhaps put off by a thunderous atmosphere inside the ground, it didn't arrive. Borre had a shot that was fielded by Alphonse Areola as the hosts looked to pull away. When the visitors did attack, Evan Ndicka was there to clear a glancing header off the line. Michail Antonio menaced for the Hammers but Frankfurt remained comfortable, with substitute Goncalo Paciencia getting into a good position late on before volleying wide. West Ham would see coach David Moyes red carded in frustration before the end while Tomas Soucek headed his team's last chance off target. It all means Eintracht banish the memories of 2019's Europa League last four defeat against Chelsea to set up a May 18 meeting with Rangers - conquerers of Leipzig in the night's other semi-final - at Seville's Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán stadium.
Match stats
Borre now has three goals and two assists in this season's Europa League.
Frankfurt have won all five of their Europa League games in which Borre has scored or assisted, including the last three.
Kamada - Frankfurt’s five-goal top scorer in this season’s Europa League - is one of 11 surviving members of the Eintracht team that reached the 2018/19 semi-finals, where they lost to eventual winners Chelsea on penalties.
West Ham have still never won a UEFA fixture in Germany, previously losing 3-1 to Dortmund in the 1965/66 European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals and 2-1 in Frankfurt at the same stage 10 years later.
Europa League Semi-final, second leg Semi-final, second leg Deutsche Bank Park
90'
+ 6
EINTRACHT ARE IN THE FINAL
Eintracht Frankfurt have reached their first European final since 1980, and the crowd go wild. A first half goal from Borre sealed the deal, with the hosts advancing 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate !
88'
SOUCEK MISS
Tomas Soucek heads off target from close range and that is most likely that for the visitors.
Eintracht are soaking up West Ham's forward thrusts with relative ease. The men in black look good when in possession too. Plenty of focus still required from Glasner's men.
West Ham get us back underway in the second half. Eintracht have one foot in the final.
45'
+ 4
HALF TIME
The referee brings the first half to a close and what a half it's been for the hosts. West Ham were reduced to ten men after Cresswell - as the last man - brought down Hauge who would have been through on goals. Eintracht subsequently took the lead through Borre and are in command of this second leg.
Eintracht comfortably deal with a brief West Ham fightback, the hosts keeping the Premier League side at bay in front of the area.
26'
BORRE WITH THE OPENER !
A scintillating move from the hosts has their opponents at sixes and sevens. The pull back from Knauff for Borre is met by the Colombian in confident fashion, his low finish flying in to give the hosts the lead.
Visiting coach, David Moyes, is calling several of his players over as he tries to reshuffle his ten men. What an opportunity Eintracht have here, facing the ten-man visitors at home and leading on aggregate.
19'
KOSTIC GOES CLOSE
Eintracht's No.10 smashes the free kick from just outside the area narrowly wide of the upright.
17'
WEST HAM DOWN TO 10
Cresswell is off. The referee looked like he was going to give a yellow after the West Ham defender hauled down Hauge, but then raced over to check his monitor. After reviewing the situation, the official shows Cresswell a straight red.
Antonio looks to race onto a through ball but Trapp is out at the edge of his area to claim.
4'
EINTRACHT WORRY
Hinteregger is down holding his hamstring. The defender has signalled to the bench that he might not be able to continue. This would be a big blow to the hosts.
2'
WEST HAM CORNER
The visitors win a corner inside two minutes. It comes to nothing. Eintracht's supporters are making incredible noise, shrill whistles greeting every West Ham touch.
1'
KICK OFF
Eintracht - all in black - get us underway ...
WHAT. AN. ATMOSPHERE.
Deutsche Bank Park is ROCKING ! The teams are lined up and we're all set ....
IT'S ALMOST TIME
A packed stadium awaits the teams as we edge ever closer to this mouth-watering semi-final, second leg. Can Die Adler delight these home supporters and reach the Seville showpiece? We're about to find out!
Eintracht's coach has given his final thoughts ahead of this huge second leg. “We’re expecting opponents who will try everything to reach the final. Our approach is clear, though: we want to cause problems for their defence. Our strategy is to get forward and constantly keep them busy. We’ll play to win from the get-go with our fans behind us."
RODE'S CAREER HIGHLIGHT
Sebastian Rode: “Although I’ve played quite a few matches in Europe, [tonight] is a real highlight in my career. We want to get to the final and know from the first leg how hard it will be."
Johnson replacing Coufal in defence is the Hammers' only change to the side that started the first leg in London last week.
EINTRACHT TEAM NEWS II
Coach Oliver Glasner also has Martin Hinteregger and Sebastian Rode available after the pair missed the meeting with Bayer Leverkusen on Monday night.
EINTRACHT TEAM NEWS
Behind forward Borre, Kamada is joined by Jens Petter Hauge after Jesper Lindstrom was withdrawn through injury after an hour at the London Stadium, while Filip Kostic operates from the opposite flank to Knauff. Defender Evan Ndicka and midfielder Kristijan Jakic have served their European suspensions, the former coming into the starting XI while the latter is on the bench.
Frankfurt are bidding to reach their first UEFA competition final since beating Borussia Mönchengladbach over two legs in the 1979/80 UEFA Cup.
FINAL IN SIGHT FOR EINTRACHT
On-loan Borussia Dortmund man, Ansgar Knauff, got the opener in last week's first leg before Daichi Kamada hit the winner to spark the away-day celebrations. Now back at Deutsche Bank Park, tonight's hosts know that a spot in Seville awaits as long as they avoid defeat.
WELCOME ALONG !
What a night of European action we have in store, with Eintracht Frankfurt hoping to complete their Europa League semi-final task against West Ham United, the hosts holding a 2-1 lead from the first leg.
