Ten-man West Ham pegged back by Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele as Aaron Cresswell red card overshadows Europa League clash against Lyon

Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele denied West Ham a famous win over Lyon as his strike saw the sides play out a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium.

Ndombele, who's on loan at Lyon from Spurs, slotted in the French side's equaliser after Jarrod Bowen had put the Hammers in front early in the second half.

10

10

Lyon have the advantage going into the second leg in April 14, however, David Moyes' men can be proud of the result having spent the second half a man light.

Aaron Cresswell was sent off for pulling Moussa Dembele down on the stroke of half time, but the decision by referee Felix Zwayer didn't sit well with many, with Hammers boss Moyes being yellow carded for his protests at half time.

Former West Ham player Alvin Martin said on commentary for talkSPORT: "The thing I can’t understand is that I think he’s going away from goal… Zouma I thought was closer but on the replay he seems to stop he should keep going.

“That’s a massive turning point in the tie, there’s no doubt about it. This has not been a difficult game to referee but he’s made it more difficult. He’s created issues of his own making.

“Dembele’s not through on goal, Cresswell has touched him but maybe the referee could’ve given a yellow card and I don’t think there would’ve been any argument from either manager.”

Martin added: “For me it was a yellow all day long.

Most read in Football

Mikel Arteta confirms worrying potential Arsenal injury blow days before crunch PSG test

Ex-EFL manager clinches victory over PSG ahead of crucial Arsenal decider

'I regret it' - Chelsea gave Liverpool guard of honour but 'one title' dig caused chaos

Bradford steal promotion from EFL rivals with stunning stoppage-time winner

10

10

“Two players went down for Lyon earlier and the referee stopped the game for them. He had no right to stop the game. But as soon as he does that he sets a precedent for the game but when Bowen goes down why doesn’t he do the same thing?”

Nevertheless, a draw keeps West Ham's dream of a place in the semi-finals, against either Barcelona or Eintracht Frankfurt, well and truly alive.

It promises to be a spicy return leg in the culinary capital of France after tempers occasionally boiled over, while Dembele's wink, which bore resemblance to Cristiano Ronaldo's wink after Wayne Rooney was sent off at the 2006 World Cup, after Cresswell's red card will not have gone unnoticed among the Hammers ranks.

Lyon may be having an erratic season domestically - they currently lie ninth in Ligue 1 - but they are unbeaten in this competition and knocked out Porto in the last 16.

They are also seasoned European campaigners and quickly began to showcase their repertoire of the darker arts, infuriating West Ham when Jerome Boateng and Ndombele both stayed down after no foul had been given.

10

10

German referee Zwayer seemed taken in by their antics, stopping play each time with West Ham looking to attack.

Then, in first-half stoppage time and with West Ham frustration growing, Cresswell suddenly found himself chasing down Dembele and pulled him back on the edge of the box.

Kurt Zouma was also on the scene as cover but Zwayer decided Cresswell was the last man and pulled out a straight red card, to the obvious delight of the winking Dembele and the dismay of David Moyes.

The Hammers manager's grasp of German is not known, but he evidently made his feelings clear enough as Zwayer booked him as he stormed down the tunnel.

10

But West Ham's sense of injustice fuelled them into taking the lead seven minutes into the second half.

Michail Antonio's burst forward caused havoc in the Lyon defence and Pablo Fornals tried to slip in Bowen.

Boateng made a mess of his attempt to control the ball and it rolled behind Bowen, but the winger managed to retrieve it, turn and clip the ball over Lyon keeper Anthony Lopes via a deflection off the sliding Boateng.

However, Lyon grabbed a 66th-minute equaliser when Ndombele got in the box to fire home from six yards after a cross from substitute Tete hit Ryan Fredericks.

10

10

10

There was a sour note to the match after a pitch invader - the second of the game - jumped out of the home end and actually stopped a promising Hammers attack before he was escorted off.

Dembele put a header over as West Ham saw out eight nervy minutes of stoppage time to give themselves a fighting chance in seven days.