Europa League, Frankfurt beat West Ham 2-1: Records broken
West Ham United have work to do after falling short versus Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-final first-leg clash of the Europa League 2021-22 season. It's a deserved first-leg advantage for the German side as they take a lead back to Germany. Ansgar Knauff gave Frankfurt the early lead before Michail Antonio equalized. However, Daichi Kamada scored the winner in the 54th minute.
West Ham had the perfect start when Knauff scored inside the opening minute. Antonio equalized for the hosts when he bundled home Kurt Zouma's nod down at the far post. Kamada tapped home after Djibril Sow's low shot to give his side a 2-1 lead. Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma came close for West Ham but the goals didn't arrive.
German side Frankfurt managed their unbeaten run in the ongoing season of the Europa League. Frankfurt had topped Group D, collecting 12 points (W3 D3 L0). They scored 10 goals and allowed six. In the round of 16, they edged past Real Betis 2-1 in the first leg before drawing the second 1-1. Frankfurt enjoyed a 4-3 win over two legs against Barcelona.
After the match, West Ham boss David Moyes expressed his disappointment. "Disappointing result but there's another game to play. Hopefully we play better in the second-leg. We didn't show enough quality in the final third. We switched off for the goals," he said. He also said the creative players of West Ham didn't do enough when the opportunities arrived.
As per Opta, after winning the first leg of a European knockout tie, Eintracht Frankfurt have advanced to the next round in each the last 10 cases. Meanwhile, Knauff has now scored the quickest goal for Eintracht Frankfurt in their Europa League history (0:49).
RB Leipzig defeated Rangers 1-0 at home. Rangers are still in the tie and need to showcase their mettle in the second leg. As per Opta, Leipzig won their 16th match in all competitions in 2022. This is more than any other German side. Among all teams playing in the big five European leagues, only Liverpool have a higher winning percentage this year.
