West Ham gave a decent account of themselves but were beaten 1-0 by Sevilla in the first leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie. The Hammers had Declan Rice back from illness, but were without in-form winger Jarrod Bowen, with Nikola Vlasic handed a rare start. Here are our talking points from the game at Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
No sponsor on the kit: Spanish regulations meant that West Ham took the field without their primary sponsor (Betway) on the shirt. It was also paired with a new shorts/socks combo (claret and white)
Great Vlasic chance: As an attacking side, West Ham usually do not create many chances, and against big teams, you simply have to take the limited ones you get. Against Liverpool, both Fornals and Lanzini missed decent opportunities, and here, it was the turn of Nikola Vlasic, who headed straight at the keeper from point blank range when the score was at 0-0. Antonio also ended swiping at thin air from the rebound, and Sevilla were let off. Like the Liverpool game, this one also ended 1-0 in favour of West Ham’s opponents.
Lanzini also had a late semi-decent chance to equalise, but Jesus Navas put in a fine block to deny the Argentine medio.
Apart from that chance, Vlasic actually had a pretty good game all things considered- a major improvement on some of his earlier performances.
Clever Munir finish puts Sevilla ahead: West Ham were caught napping at this free kick on the hour mark- Acuna cleverly found Munir, whom no one had bothered to mark, and the former Barca player produced a lovely finish to put the Andalusians ahead. Given that he had wasted a couple of very decent chances in the first half (a header and a shot wide), this was an important goal for him- Munir had only started because Ivan Rakitic was a late withdrawal.
Great Rice tackles: Declan Rice had a pretty good game, and produced two even more better tackles in the second half to stop Sevilla on the counter- one of which was to stop Anthony Martial. We can’t publish them here for obvious reasons, but they’re definitely worth a watch.
Will Jarrod Bowen be back next week?: Would Jarrod Bowen have converted Vlasic’s chance? Given the form the winger has been in, the answer would have to be yes. David Moyes will be hoping that he recovers in time for the return leg.
Sevilla are tough opponents, but a 1-0 lead means that West Ham still have hope.
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