In the end the only consolation for West Ham was that they are still alive. Nobody should mistake this for a hard-luck story, even if Jarrod Bowen was desperately unfortunate to hit the bar with an overhead kick in added time. The reality is that Eintracht Frankfurt were dominant for long spells and, when David Moyes picks through his side’s messy performance, his overriding emotion will be relief that West Ham’s hopes of reaching the Europa League final have not been consigned to dust.
Equally there is much for West Ham to improve before they travel to Germany next week. For a start they will have to take far more care in possession. At times West Ham simply seemed to be forcing the issue, almost as if the emotion of their first European semi-final in 46 years had dented their focus, and for all their endeavour it was difficult to remember much in the way of control as they strained to contain Eintracht, who will feel disappointed not to have departed with more than a 2-1 lead.
