Eintracht Frankfurt has beaten West Ham 2-1 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final clash at London Stadium.
Next week, they are taking a narrow lead back to Germany for the second leg.
The visitors enjoyed the perfect start to the game when Ansgar Knauff headed home Rafael Borre’s cross after 49 seconds.
The Hammers responded through Michail Antonio, but Frankfurt regained the advantage in the second half through Daichi Kamada as he scored from close range.
Kamada nearly notched a third for Oliver Glasner’s men, only to be denied by the post.
Jarrod Bowen had no luck in front of goal himself for West Ham, striking the post in the first half and the bar in stoppage time in the second from an overhead kick.
As a result, David Moyes’ men have work ahead of them in the second leg to keep their hopes of reaching the final alive.
Starting lineup:
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Alphonse Areola; Ben Johnson, Craig Dawson, Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell; Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice; Jarrod Bowen, Manuel Lanzini, Pablo Fornals; Michail Antonio.
WEST HAM SUBS: Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal, Andriy Yarmolenko, Nikola Vlasic, Mark Noble, Said Benrahma, Ryan Fredericks, Arthur Masuaku, Alex Kral, Darren Randolph, Ajibola Alese, Daniel Chesters.
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT (3-4-3): Kevin Trapp; Tuta, Martin Hinteregger, Almamy Toure; Ansgar Knauff, Djibril Sow, Sebastian Rode, Filip Kostic; Jesper Lindstrom, Rafael Borre, Daichi Kamada.
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT SUBS: Ajdin Hrustic, Sam Lammers, Makoto Hasebe, Ragnar Ache, Timothy Chandler, Jens Hauge, Danny da Costa, Christopher Lenz, Aymen Barkok, Jens Grahl, Goncalo Paciencia, Jannik Horz.
Goals:
0-1. In the first minute, the visitors take the lead as Knauff coasts in at the back post to plant a past header, Areola. Borre does brilliantly in the final third to arc a cross into the box from the left flank. Knauff gambles and raids past Fornals to nod his effort into the top-left corner. London Stadium is stunned.
1-1. The Hammers notch their equaliser as Antonio steers home a close-range strike. Lanzini delivers a fine cross into the box from a free-kick that Zouma attacks. He nods the ball across the face of the goal where Antonio is in the right place to guide a right-footed strike past Trapp.
1-2. The German outfit regains the lead as Kamada turns home a rebound from six yards. Sow opens up the West Ham defence as he plays a one-two with Lindstrom to advance into the inside-left channel. The midfielder tries to place his effort into the corner, but Areola makes a stop. However, the rebound falls to Kamada, who finds the net with a left-footed finish.
So, what’s next?
West Ham is back in Premier League action on Sunday against Arsenal on home soil.
Eintracht Frankfurt plays again on Monday against Bayer Leverkusen on the road in the Bundesliga.