West Ham battle to Europa League draw with Lyon after Cresswell’s red card

The dream seemed to be over at half-time. West Ham had just lost Aaron Cresswell to a hugely controversial red card and at that stage it was hard not to feel that Lyon were going to run away with this Europa League quarter-final.

But David Moyes has made West Ham tough. Powered by injustice after seeing Felix Zwayer dismiss Cresswell for fouling Moussa Dembele, the 10 men dug in and took the lead through Jarrod Bowen. Lyon had to scrap and West Ham will travel to France with hope next week, even though Tanguy Ndombele cancelled out their lead.

It was far too early for West Ham to start thinking about a potential semi-final against Barcelona. This was another imposing test and Moyes knew better than to focus on the odds favouring his team. After all, Lyon were Champions League semi-finalists two years ago and, although their domestic form has been inconsistent this season, they remain an accomplished team and it quickly became clear that they were capable of making life uncomfortable for West Ham.

It was a classic case of an experienced side drawing the sting from the occasion. Roared on by a passionate home crowd, West Ham overwhelmed Sevilla in the last 16 and Lyon did not want to suffer a similar fate. They wanted the game to be played at their pace and their intricate passing soon caused problems. There were possibilities when Lyon played through Houssem Aouar and the opening goal almost arrived when Lucas Paquetá broke down the left, only for Dembélé to turn the Brazilian’s cross wide.

Playing in their first European quarter-final since 1981, West Ham were edgy for a while. Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice struggled to keep the ball away from Tanguy Ndombele and Thiago Mendes, although there was hope on the break. They