Eintracht Frankfurt have advanced to the Europa League final after beating West Ham United 3-1 on aggregate, following a 1-0 second-leg win at the Deutsche Bank Park on Thursday night.
After losing the first leg 2-1 in London last week, David Moyes's men were already facing an uphill task to reach their first European final in 47 years.
However, their hopes of reaching the showpiece event in Seville were deal a hammer blow in the 19th minute, when Aaron Cresswell was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity, dragging Frankfurt attacker Jens Petter Hauge to the ground on the edge of the area.
Referee Jesus Gil Manzano initially awarded a yellow card to the left-back, a decision which angered the Frankfurt players and supporters, but VAR intervened and Cresswell was eventually given his marching orders after the referee was advised to look at his on-field monitor.
West Ham's nightmare start got worse just seven minutes later, when Frankfurt opened the scoring and increased their lead on aggregate thanks to a first-time finish from Borre.
Ansgar Knauff drove down the right flank before delivering a low-driven cross towards the Colombian striker, who swept his effort into the bottom-left corner from 10 yards out.
West Ham initially struggled to get into the game and were ran ragged at times by their German counterparts, but Moyes's side dug deep and came close to pulling a goal back on the stroke of half time when Kurt Zouma saw a bundled effort clear off the lie by Tuta, following a dangerous free kick whipped in by Jarrod Bowen.
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The Hammers continued to push with 10 men in the second half, and although they looked a constant threat from set pieces, nothing was going in their favour and their frustrations began to show.
Tempers boiled over in the final 15 minutes both on and off the pitch, and an enraged Moyes was shown a straight red card for an outburst in the dugout, kicking the ball in anger towards a ball boy.
After such an impressive Europa League run to get to this stage, it turned out to be a night to forget for West Ham, in stark contrast to Frankfurt, whose supporters ran onto the pitch in their thousands as soon as the full-time whistle blew to celebrate reaching their first European final in over 40 years.
Frankfurt will now face Rangers in the Europa League final at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Seville on May 18, after the Scottish giants beat RB Leipzig 3-2 on aggregate.
West Ham will now turn their attention to Sunday's Premier League fixture away at Norwich City, while Frankfurt will prepare for a home encounter in the Bundesliga with Borussia Monchengladbach.
Oliver Thomas
