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Eintracht Frankfurt have secured a brilliant 2-1 away win at West Ham United to seize the initiative in their Europa League semi-final tie.
In Germany, their Bundesliga colleagues RB Leipzig fought out a 1-0 home win over Rangers ahead of next week’s second-leg match in Glasgow.
Daichi Kamada nudged the winner for Frankfurt early in the second half to the delight of the 3000 fans who backed the Eagles in London.
And they will be dreaming of a trip to Seville for the May 18 final if they can survive next week’s home leg, but will be aware they can take nothing for granted against the Hammers.
David Moyes’ men cancelled Ansgar Knauff’s first-minute opener through Michail Antonio before the break and also hit the woodwork three times – the last a thumping overhead kick off the bar from Jarrod Bowen in injurytime.
Leipzig, in contrast, dominated throughout against Rangers but struggled to create chances against the defensive Scottish champions.
Christopher Nkunku somehow failed to add to his 30 season goals when he rounded keeper Allan McGregor only to blaze off-target but Angelino’s superb 85th-minute volley finally got the breakthrough.
The second leg to come in Glasgow remains finely balanced with away goals no longer in force this season.
An all-Bundesliga final could be possible in the competition for the first time since 1980 when Frankfurt defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach on away goals.
Leipzig enjoyed 75 per cent possession in the first half against Rangers but managed just four shots and McGregor did not have a save to make.
That changed after the break but Rangers looked to have held on until a corner fell for Angelino and the full back volleyed sweetly into the corner from the edge of the box.
Meanwhile, in the Europa Conference League semi-final ties are evenly balanced with Leicester City drawing 1-1 with Roma and Feyenoord beating Marseille 3-2 in the first leg.
Hosts Leicester City needed an own goal to rescue a 1-1 draw in their first-leg semi-final tie against Jose Mourinho’s Roma.
The energetic Foxes were stunned when Nicola Zalewski found space on the left to set up Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini for a 15th-minute opener against the run of play.
But Ademola Lookman met a 67th-minute cross from Harvey Barnes to force an own goal from Gianluigi Mancini, which ensured parity on the night for Brendon Rodgers’s team.
(Photo by Jon Bromley/ MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“I thought I took a nick on it and maybe it hit him after,” Lookman told BT Sport.
“They are a strong team, defensively very good but we played well today.
“It is going to be a difficult game (in Rome), playing away from home, the atmosphere, their fans, we will need our fans to be behind us.
“We are looking forward to the challenge – we will go there to try and win the game.”
Roma, however, will be confident of finishing the job in front of their own supporters in next week’s second leg to reach the May 25 final in Tirana.
“The second leg is going to be a tough game – but we’ll be playing it at home, in front of our fans,” said Pellegrini.
“We’ll be fired up to do the best we can.”
Former European champions Feyenoord are slight favourites to meet them there after winning a five-goal thriller 3-2 against Marseille in the other last-four tie.
Cyriel Dessers grabbed the opener and the winner for the Rotterdam hosts who also had Luis Sinisterra on the scoresheet.
Bamba Dieng and Gerson had Marseille level at the break but Dessers pounced on a mistake at the start of the second half to give the Dutch a narrow advantage.
© AAP
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