EUROPA LEAGUE: An all German final on the horizon: Both West Ham and Rangers lose first semi-final matches

Whoever thought that Frankfurt’s 3-2 win at Camp Nou against Barcelona was just a fluke was denied after only 48 second of the first semi-final match, when Ansgar Knauff used the defensive mistake by Pablo Fornals and shocked the packed London Stadium. The Hammers managed to equalize, and struck the post and a bar, but ultimately the Germans were better, dictated the game and scored another goal for the win in London: West Ham – Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2.

The home team will be sorry for their defensive mistakes, as Fornals and Creswell made mistakes prior to Frankfurt goals. Jarod Bowen will have a tough time falling asleep tonight, as West Ham’s best players missed some crucial chances: he shot the post in the first half and struck the bar in injury time of the game. But, the result remained the same. After a shocking lead within the first minute, West Ham tried to reply quickly, but in the end, it was all long balls and crosses to Antonio in the first 20 minutes. And guess what – it worked. After Bowen struck the post on a Soucek assist, Antonio used his opportunity minutes later. Lanzini put a free kick to the back post, Zouma headed it back across and West Ham’s striker equalized. Michail Antonio had not scored for 10 games coming into tonight's game and this score was surely a relief for the Jamaican international.

Frankfurt were playing with a back five when in defense, but wing-backs Knauff and Kostić were using every opportunity to go on attack and Knauff should have scored a brace in the 39th minute, but he rushed to finish and fired over from close-range. Just 10 minutes into the second half and the visiting team striked again. West Ham midfield allowed some clever passing and Sow went into the penalty area, but Areola did good to save his close-range shot, but the ball bounced off to Kamada who made a simple tap-in for the second lead of the night. West Ham pushed further and Benrahama missed a euro-goal, when his powerful volley from 25 meters hit the post. The Germans replied with a post from Kamada, and Creswell was the hero, as West Ham’s defender changed the direction of the ball with his heel. And Bowen had the chance to level things up in the third minute of injury time, but was unlucky after a beautiful bicycle kick.

Prior to this game, RB Leipzig scored 2 goals against Manchester City, 2 against Bayern Munich and 4 against Borussia Dortmund (just to name a few), but tonight against Rangers in the first leg of the Europa League, the German team managed only one goal against a tough Scottish team, and they should feel very lucky they even managed that: Leipzig – Rangers 1-0.

In Leipzig, one thing was sure – the winner will be the home team, at least in the possession battle. With players like Angelino, Olmo, Nkunku and Szoboszlai, the Scots were never gonna control the ball, but they didn’t seem to care. Rangers coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst opted for a strict defense and it worked. Over 70% possession in the end wouldn’t mean a thing, if Angelino didn’t fire a thunderbolt from 20 meters.

The first half was one big zero. Leipzig huffed and puffed but with no results: they had 4 blocked shots and none on target. Domenico Tedesco decided not to change anything during half time, and it was actually the guests who had the first chance of the game, althou still without a shot on target. Out of nowhere, Ryan Kent went into the box, before he fired wide of the far post. Nobody from the home team was in the mood to create any chance apart from Nkunku, who first took a fierce shot but only at the goalkeeper, and then missed a completely empty net in the 70th minute. And just as it looked like Rangers will succeed in their mission to remain unbeaten in Germany, Angelino struck a beautiful volley from 20 meters into the right corner for the win and delirium at the stands.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE

Semi-finals

Thursday

RB Leipzig - Rangers 1-0 (0-0)

/Angelino 85/

West Ham - Eintr.Frankfurt1-2 (1-1)

/Antonio 21 - Knauff 1, Kamada 54/