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West Ham United face an uphill task to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League after being held to a 1-1 draw by Olympique Lyon on Thursday evening.
The Hammers will thank their stars that the away goals rule is no longer in existence. However, they will still need to put up a flawless performance to get the better of their opponents in the second leg.
David Moyes’ side has been in good form this season, having been involved in the battle for a top-four place in the Premier League. However, they were a tad unconvincing when they faced Lyon in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals. The Hammer had to settle for a draw against the French side.
Hammers pay for not taking their chances
West Ham have usually played on the front foot this season, especially at home, and that is exactly how they started the game against Lyon. The Hammers were very lively in the opening 45 minutes and created several decent chances.
The problem, though, was that they were very wasteful. Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio had great opportunities to put Moyes’ side in the lead but spurned their chances.
The hosts also shot themselves in the foot when they were reduced to 10 men after Aaron Cresswell’s lazy tackle towards the end of the first half. Despite taking the lead through Jarrod Bowen, Lyon ultimately made them pay for the several wasted chances. Tanguy Ndombele restored parity after the hour mark for the French side.
All to play for in the second leg
West Ham’s journey to the quarter-finals of the Europa League has been built on a strong home form that has seen them beat every visiting side. They lost 1-0 away at Sevilla before completing an incredible comeback at the London Stadium in the reverse fixture with a 2-0 victory.
After drawing with Lyon at home, though, the Hammers now face a tall order and will need a result away to progress. Moyes admitted in his post-match press conference, as quoted by Sky Sports:
"We've got a really difficult game to come, but we expected that. The first leg is always difficult and hard to get a defining result. The game is very much all to play for, at half-time I would have taken that."
A 1-1 draw at home is certainly not the most favorable result. However, there is all to play for in the second leg. If West Ham can match Lyon with 10 men, then they can beat the Ligue 1 side when the playing field is even.
