The Europa League 2022 finalists have been decided after hard-fought ties between two German and two British sides, Glasgow Rangers will face Eintracht Frankfurt in the final – both desperately searching for European glory.
Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers have reached their first European final since 2008 after overcoming RB Leipzig, but 10-man West Ham United missed their chance at making it an all-British final after losing out to Eintracht Frankfurt.
With that, Glasgow Rangers will be put to the test once more in the competition against a tough side as they try to win their first-ever European trophy. But to do so they will have to overcome an outfit who has won the competition once before in the 1979-80.
TIBS News reviews both second legs that took place this Thursday…
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 West Ham United (3-1 on aggregate)
West Ham United failed to turn around a 2-1 disadvantage against Germany’s Frankfurt on Thursday, to miss out on the competition’s all important final.
An Aaron Cresswell sending off in the 16th minute of the first half was followed up by a hammering blow from Frankfurt’s striker Rafael Borre to make West Ham’s task near impossible to overturn.
The English side fought hard, despite being a man down, but the player disadvantage was too much for them to handle as they failed to score any goals at the Deutsche Bank Park.
West Ham’s magnificent campaign has now come to an end, but British hopes remain in check as Scotland’s Rangers have a chance to win their first-ever European trophy if they manage to overcome the Germans.
Rangers 3-1 RB Leipzig (3-2 on aggregate)
Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers have reached their first European final in 14 years after an astonishing first-half display against RB Leipzig – going into half-time with a 2-0 lead on the night, courtesy of goals from James Tavernier and Glen Kamara.
Leipzig’s most in-form man Christopher Nkunku managed to get a goal back for the visitors, which levelled the tie at 2-2 on aggregate, with all to play for in the last 20 minutes of the second half.
The man of the match award was handed to England’s John Lundstram who managed to squeeze a low driven shot past Hungary’s Gulacsi, to restore the Rangers’ aggregate lead with 10 minutes to play.
Rangers’ backline was solid throughout the entire game, which marked the difference between the two sides as the Ibrox outfit managed to hold on to their 3-2 aggregate lead to reach the final.
The final will be played at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on May 18 – where both teams will fight out for their first piece of silverware this season.
By Carlos Almeida Moura
