West Ham seal Europa League semi-final spot as goal flurry tames Lyon

As Mark Noble prepared to enter the pitch with 14 minutes left he could have been forgiven if his mind had drifted back to all the times when West Ham have been written off as a laughing stock. Noble has experienced his fair share of lows since making his debut 19 years ago and it is unlikely that he ever thought his final season as a professional would end up with him two games away from reaching a European final.

But this is West Ham now. This is why their fans think they are massive. David Moyes has lifted them to unthinkable heights and he is far from done. Moyes will not settle for taking West Ham to their first European semi-final since 1976 after this astonishing triumph over Lyon. He will know his side are capable of more when they face Eintracht Frankfurt.

West Ham are tough and Lyon could not handle their power. It did not matter that West Ham were without three key defenders. There was a towering performance from Craig Dawson, who scored the opener, and a huge showing from Declan Rice in midfield. West Ham knew they would have to be resilient after drawing the first leg 1-1 last week. There was no place for anyone in claret and blue to hide. Lyon would not allow it. They took their cue from a boisterous home crowd and it was clear that Peter Bosz had sent them out to be aggressive from the start.

It was not long before Lyon, who were boosted by Tanguy Ndombele and Houssem Aouar passing late fitness checks, were creating chances. They had pace down the flanks and West Ham were fortunate not to be behind after five minutes. It was too easy for Lyon to play their way through on the left and, when Vladimír Coufal backed off, Karl Toko Ekambi had time to slide a low shot beyond Alphonse Areola, who was relieved to