George Overhill

Thu 5 May 2022 21:54, UK

The European dream ended for West Ham with a 1-0 defeat in Frankfurt, going out of the Europa League 3-1 on aggregate while down to 10 men.

Trailing 2-1 from the first-leg in London, the task was made massively more difficult when Aaron Cresswell was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity inside the opening 20 minutes.

Rafael Borre put the hosts two up on aggregate soon after as the shell-shocked Hammers were reeling.

An admirable second-half effort saw frustrations boil over, with manager David Moyes was shown a straight red for reacting to the opposing bench.

Here, West Ham Zone rates the Hammers players out of 10 for their performance in Germany.

Alphonse Areola – (5)

Left completely exposed by his defence, he had no chance with the opening goal. Rarely tested otherwise.

Vladimir Coufal – off for Yarmolenko ’87 (5)

Didn’t do anything particularly wrong but wasn’t the attacking threat he can be while looking close to his limit in trying to keep the hosts out.

Kurt Zouma – (5)

Arguably put Cresswell in trouble by stepping out and leaving the gap that preceded the red card, then the cut back for the opener went through his legs. Almost managed to force in a Bowen cross but had it cleared off the line as the visitors attempted to drag themselves back into the game. Looked more assured after the break, but the damage had been done.

Craig Dawson – (6)

So often the inspiration for this Irons defence, he looked lost in the aftermath of the sending off and afforded Borre acres of space in the area to sweep the opener home on the night. More effective in an attacking sense than at the back, appearing a number of times in the opposing penalty area as West Ham threw everything at the home side. Looked like his old self again in repelling some late attacks.

Aaron Cresswell – sent off ’19 (1)

Absolutely catastrophic display. Got it completely wrong when he found himself isolated against Hauge and his second red card of the knock out stages gutted the Hammers fight back before it had got going. A stalwart for this side, he will be devastated with his night.

Declan Rice – (4)

Far from his imperious best. Booked just before the half for dissent as he lost his cool with the situation crumbling around him. Looked frustrated and exhausted as he was forced to charge around covering extra space.

Tomas Soucek – (2)

Struggled. Couldn’t get on the ball in the opening exchanges and was far too easily bypassed after the Hammers were down to 10.

Jarrod Bowen – (7)

Looked the sharpest early Put in a delightful free-kick late in the first half that almost brought a way back into the game. Looked to pounce on whatever scraps of opportunity Frankfurt offered, and drew a number of fouls. Very good effort in difficult circumstances.

Manuel Lanzini – off for Johnson ’22 (-)

On his 200th appearance for the club he barely saw a kick before he was sacrificed following Cresswell’s sending off.

Pablo Fornals – off for Benrahma ’74 (6)

Worked extremely hard but understandably wasn’t able to have a huge amount of influence on proceedings. Combined with Bowen and Antonio a couple of times but couldn’t make a telling contribution.

Michail Antonio – (8) Man of the Match

Toiled admirably up top in a Herculean effort. In the circumstances – excellent. First involvement proved too much for Martin Hinteregger who injured his hamstring attempting to hold him off. If only the Irons could have held it together long enough to give him a platform to panic the hosts further. Ran himself into the ground, held the ball up well, and managed to produce some moments of genuine threat. Nearly scored late consolation.

SUBSTITUTES

Ben Johnson – on for Lanzini ’22 – (6)

Looked shaky when thrown into the middle of the nightmare situation, but grew into the game and was suitably energetic down the left without being able to make a real difference.

Said Benrahma – on for Fornals ’74

Andriy Yarmolenko – on for Coufal ’87

In other West Ham news, one expected summer arrival is in “advanced” talks with two other sides amid high interest.

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