West Ham defender was given a straight red for pulling back Moussa Dembele, and denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Cresswell barely grabbed the Lyon striker, but any slight contact was always going to prompt Dembele to go down, especially as he knew it would lead to a red card.
Pictures below from BT Sport and Virgin Media.
Aaron Cresswell is shown a red card deep into first-half added time!
He was judged to have pulled down Moussa Dembele…
The wink from the Lyon striker says it all ? pic.twitter.com/0PefUWytIr
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 7, 2022
RED CARD! ?
Aaron Cresswell shown a straight red card for this challenge.
Terrible end to the first half for West Ham.
The wink from Dembele. ?#WHULYO | #UEL pic.twitter.com/boEPJ35wQs
— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) April 7, 2022
The red card would have likely changed David Moyes half-time team talk, with the sending off happening just before the 45-minute mark.
This gives Lyon a huge advantage, if they are able to grab the win against ten men, ahead of the home leg in a few weeks.