Eintracht Frankfurt will narrowly lead Germany in the return in the UEFA Europa League semi-final against West Ham after winning 2-1 at the London Stadium on Thursday night.
The German side were dominant throughout the match and were rewarded with Ansgar Knauf and Daichi Kamada scoring an early goal in the first half to give them the advantage.
It was expected to be a live match, but the goal after just 51 seconds was still a surprise.
Ansgar Knauf reached the end of a Raphael Borre cross and headed into the net to silence the home crowd.
But Hammers found their way back into the match and were unlucky to not equalize after a few minutes when the menace Jarrod Bowen found his way through the middle but his attempt hit the post.
They equalized though after 21 minutes and the goal came from another group.
Kurt Zouma fired his header across the goal, which was greeted by Michail Antonio by stabbing her in the house and sending the crowd into raucous celebrations.
Despite their dominance after the equalizer, West Ham failed to truly threaten the Germans and would have fallen behind again had Knauf not advanced too far through Alphonse Areola.
They got their goal, which proved to be the winner, in the 54th minute from a free movement, and at the end Daiichi Kamada turned on the rebound after Areola parried Gabriel Su’s shot.
Kamada could have added a late third goal, but his shot hit the post, on either side of West Ham he did so twice, with substitute Said Benrahma flying past the post from distance before Bowen’s superb shot hit the crossbar in overtime.
In another match, a late shot from Angelinho secured Leipzig’s 1-0 advantage against a disciplined Rangers side.
The hosts were the favorites for the match at the Red Bull Arena, but they faced a stubborn Scottish side that proved to be unruly.
In the end, Angelino’s goal, five minutes from the end of time, proved to be enough on the night.
