West Ham kept themselves in their Europa League quarter-final tie against Lyon with a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium, having played the entire second-half with ten men.
Aaron Cresswell was sent off on the verge of half-time for pulling back Moussa Dembele, who the referee deemed would have been clean through on goal.
Jarrod Bowen gave the Hammers an unlikely lead after the break to send the home fans into raptures, though Tanguy Ndombele then got the French side level on his return to England.
In their first European quarter-final for more than 40 years and with depleted ranks for so much of the match, David Moyes will be thrilled that his side remain very much in the tie going into the second-leg in France next week.
Lyon dominated possession almost from the very first whistle, though that suited West Ham just fine as they looked to break quickly when winning it back.
Craig Dawson’s brilliant long ball found Said Benrahma, who tested Anthony Lopes from a tight angle with the first real chance of the match.
Michail Antonio caused Lyon’s defence plenty of problems, while the home fans became increasingly frustrated with a number of decisions from the referee.
That was turned up to another level when Cresswell was sent-off seconds before half-time. Dembele was played in behind, the West Ham left-back slightly pulled back the striker’s shoulder and the Lyon man went tumbling to the ground.
The referee gave the free-kick and showed Cresswell a straight red, deciding that he had denied a clear goalscoring opportunity in what was a harsh decision on the home side.
Ben Johnson was introduced in place of Benrahma at the break, as Moyes looked to keep his side in the tie.
The focus may well have been on keeping Lyon out, but seven minutes into the second-half it was the hosts who stunned their opponents.
Seconds after Antonio had a penalty appeal waved away, the Hammers pounced on a loose pass. Pablo Fornals’ bobbling effort rolled into the path of Bowen after Jerome Boateng, and his shot then deflected off the Lyon defender, over the goalkeeper and into the empty net.
The visitors levelled though, midway through the half. Tete’s low cross was pushed out by Alphonse Areola, off Ryan Fredericks and perfectly into the path of Ndombele who had the simplest of finishes from just a few yards out.
Lyon had an increasingly exclusive share of possession from that point onwards, as they looked to give themselves a lead to take back to France.
West Ham held firm late on though to give themselves a real chance of still reaching the Europa League semi-finals.
