But David Moyes made West Ham tough. Forced 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 were forced to turn down and West Ham will travel to France hoping next week, although Tanguy Ndombele canceled out their lead. It was too early for West Ham to start thinking about a possible semi-final against Barcelona. This was another imposing test and Moyes knew better than to focus on the odds that favored his team. After all, Lyon were Champions League semi-finalists two years ago and, although their home form has been inconsistent this season, they remain a cohesive team and quickly proved capable of making life uncomfortable for West Ham. It was a classic case in point. West Ham, roared by a passionate home crowd, crushed Sevilla in the “16” and Lyon did not want to have a similar fate. They wanted the game to be done at their own pace and their complicated pass soon created problems. There were chances when Lyon played through Husem Avar and the first goal almost came when Lucas Paketa broke the left, only for Dembele to turn the cross of the Brazilian. Playing in its first European quarter-final since 1981, West Ham were nervous for a while. Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice tried to keep the ball away from Tanguy Ndombele and Thiago Mendes, although there was hope for the break. They threatened when Craig Dawson’s ball released Saïd Benrahma, whose shot was blocked by Anthony Lopes, then when Michail Antonio rushed in and saw his attempt to block Castello Lukeba. Overall, however, Lukeba and Jérôme Boateng stood up to Antonio. West Ham were not well enough in the final third, with Jarrod Bowen unable to influence the game from the right and screams of frustration were heard when Benrahma lost some promising positions. The toy had become a cage. Rice got a good save from Lopez from 20 yards. Boateng, Ndombele and Malo Gusto filled the crowd by making too many challenges out of nothing. It was not uncommon and it was hard to imagine Moyes waiting on the pitch to criticize the referees at halftime, the West Ham coach was incensed after seeing his team reduced to 10 players when Creswell’s foul on Dembele was considered a denial. the Lyon. ahead a clear goal opportunity. It was highly questionable by Zwayer, who had rejected Bowen’s calls for a foul before Aouar sent Dembélé to fight over Kurt Zouma. Dembele even turned a blind eye to his teammates when Creswell was ordered to leave for a silly pull on his opponent’s jersey. The attacker’s touch had taken him away from the goal, while Zuma covered and it was ridiculous that there was no intervention by the VAR. Moyes was detained for his protests, although he will probably have questions about Creswell’s defense as well. The West Ham left-back had panicked and his dismissal tilted the game in favor of Lyon, especially with Benrahma out and Ben Johnson as extra defenders. The Fiver: sign up and receive our daily football email. Inevitably Lyon dominated the territory. West Ham, however, had an attack plan. They threatened when Antonio ran to Luceba and then when Fornals dribbled from the left. Suddenly Lyon was torn. Gusto did not do enough to stop Fornals and when the Spaniard pushed the ball to Boateng, it passed to Bowen, whose messy shot hit the Lyon defender and bounced over Lopez. West Ham chased a second, Antonio approaches. Lyon needed fresh ideas and Peter Bosz sent Tetê and Karl Toko Ekambi for Boateng and Romain Faivre. The changes worked immediately, Tetê dribbled past Johnson and shot into a low ball that Alphonse Areola and Ryan Fredericks failed to clear, allowing Ndombele to equalize. Beyond that, the question was whether Lyon would score again. West Ham refused to let it happen.
