West Ham United Lays Waste to Olympique Lyonnais, David Moyes' Team Beat French Side to Progress to Semifinals

West Ham United Lays Waste to Olympique Lyonnais, David Moyes' Team Beat French Side to Progress to Semifinals

Byron Pillay
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:00 PM
  • West Ham United produced a brilliant display to beat Olympique Lyonnais at home and qualify for the semi-final
  • Olympique Lyonnais started the stronger team but were stunned by three goals in the space of ten minutes by West Ham United
  • West Ham United will now face Germany's Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-final of the UEFA Europa League

West Ham United marched on to the semi-final of the UEFA Europa League thanks to an emphatic victory over Olympique Lyonnais.

The English side ran out 4-1 winners on aggregate, after beating the home side 3-0 on the night.

West Ham United, Olympique Lyonnais, David Moye, Beat French Side, Progress, Semifinals, Win, UEFA Europa League, Soccer, Football
West Ham United will meet Eintracht Frankfurt in the semi-final of the UEFA Europa League after beating Olympique Lyonnais. Image: @UberWestHam
Source: Twitter

Surprisingly it was Lyon that were the better team for the first twenty minutes of the game. The home side dominated possession and should have taken the lead in the fifth minute through Karl Toko Ekambi.

The Cameroonian smashed his shot against the post and the rebound was then blasted wide. Moussa Dembele and Toko Ekambi would continue to threaten the West Ham defence but nothing came of it.

The English side slowly grew into the game and stunned their hosts in the 38th minute when Craig Dawson scored. Dawson headed home at the near post from a delightful corner from Pablo Fornals.

West Ham were two goals up just six minutes later when Fornals and Ben Johnson combined to set up Declan Rice. The midfielder struck a sweet low drive that took a slight deflection to nestle its way in the back of the net.

West Ham went into the break 2-0 up and many expected Lyon to fight back in the second half. Sadly they were stunned again in the first minute after the restart as Jarrod Bowen made it 3-0.

A beautiful through ball by Fornals found Bowen in acres of space and he dispatched a low show into the corner of the net. Lyon would push forward for a consolation goal, with Dembele and Malo Gusto going close. The rest of the half saw Lyon try in vain to get one back but West Ham held on for the win and the clean sheet.

UEFA Europa League: Resilient West Ham United draw with Olympique Lyonnais despite controversial red card

As reported earlier by Sports Brief, a 10-man West Ham United put on a brave and spirited fight against Lyon, holding the visitors to a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium in the first leg of their quarterfinal clash.

West Ham were reduced to 10 men on the stroke of halftime when Aaron Cresswell was sent off for a foul on Moussa Dembele. Dembele was through on goal and Cresswell, who happened to be the last defender, tried to impede his run.

West Ham United’s best chance to win the tie came before the 90th minute when they had the Lyon defenders under pressure and were looking for a killer blow. It was then that a fan ran onto the pitch, bringing a halt to play.

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Byron Pillay
Byron Pillay is a sports writer and Head of the Department at Sports Brief (joined in 2022) with over 10 years of experience in community journalism and a degree in journalism from Caxton's Cadet School.
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