Berlin (AP) – Olympique Lyon only came to a 1-1 (0-0) against West Ham United in the Europa League despite a half-time majority.
The team around ex-world champion Jerome Boateng even fell behind through Jarrod Bowen (52nd minute), before Tanguy Ndombelé (66th) saved the Ligue 1 team of former Bundesliga coach Peter Bosz from a nasty surprise with his equalizing goal. Boateng didn’t look good when he conceded. First the Lyon defender involuntarily deflected the ball to Bowen, then he deflected the shot from the West Ham striker untenably.
In added time in the first half, Bundesliga referee Felix Zwayer showed West Ham’s Aaron Creswell the red card for an emergency brake. Creswell had brought down Lyon’s Moussa Dembéle with a light touch as he ran towards the London goal.
Because two speedsters ran across the field in the second half and the game had to be interrupted twice, there was also a long stoppage time.
The second leg is next Thursday. The winner of this pairing would be the semi-final opponents of Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt on April 28th and May 5th, should they sensationally prevail in the first game after beating FC Barcelona 1-1.
Sporting Braga defeated Glasgow Rangers 1-0 (1-0). Abel Ruiz (40th) marked the winning goal. In addition, Braga’s captain Ricardo Horta (25th) hit the post, three minutes later his brother André’s goal was disallowed for a foul. Should Bundesliga side RB Leipzig win the second leg at Atalanta Bergamo after the 1-1 draw in the first leg, the Saxons would meet the winner between Braga and the Scots in the next round.