Jacob Steinberg was at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán tonight, and his report has landed. There it is, just one click away. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
David Moyes talks to BT. “Vlasic and Lanzini had great chances. You don’t come to these places and get loads and loads. Our finishing hasn’t been the best, and we have to try to improve on it. It’s cost us. We’ll be ready next week and we’re in a good position to get through. It’ll be a big night for us and we’ll be up for it.”
Declan Rice talks to BT Sport. “Disappointed. Very disappointed. We had the two best chances of the game. We knew it was going to be a tough game. It’s really good we’re making the chances, but we need to start taking them if we’re to progress. I’m gutted we couldn’t get something here tonight. But all our heads are still up. The manager said: we go to our stadium. We’re going to give it a real go, and have the belief that we can win the game.”
Sevilla were the better team on balance, as they normally are at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, and against English sides, and in the Europa League. But West Ham will be happy to have limited Julen Lopetegui’s La Liga high-flyers to one, admittedly splendid, goal from Munir. Nikola Vlašić should have scored with a header early on, mind, and if that had gone in, who knows. But here we are, with it still all very much to play for at the London Stadium in a week’s time. Sevilla will be the favourites, but the quarter finals aren’t beyond West Ham’s reach yet.
FULL TIME: Sevilla 1-0 West Ham United
The whistle goes with both coaches looking fairly happy with the result. Sevilla have a deserved advantage after the first leg, but West Ham are still very much in this. The second leg next week could be a belter!
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90 min +4: There’s half a chance for Antonio, the ball at his feet on the edge of the Sevilla box, but Gudelj blocks. What a sucker punch that could have been!
90 min +3: Masuaku comes on for Fornals. Moyes more than happy to run the clock down.
90 min +2: Plenty of 90 min +1 energy here.
90 min +1: The first of three added minutes flies by without incident.
90 min: So having said that, En-Nesyri is replaced by Rafa Mir. To be fair, that was on the cards before that minor brouhaha.
89 min: It suddenly kicks off, out of nothing. Rice is in the thick of it, having tried to pick up the stricken, possibly malingering, En-Nesyri. Ocampos comes across to give him the what-for. Rice and Ocampos are both booked, and it transpires that En-Nesyri is OK to continue.
88 min: Augustinsson comes on for Corona.
86 min: West Ham ping it about, to no great effect. Suddenly Sevilla snaffle possession, and En-Nesyri nearly breaks clear. Johnson is over quickly to put a stop to any attacking notions. He’s had a fine game for West Ham, with the caveat that the goal came from his side of the pitch.
84 min: Ocampos shuffles his way past Zouma down the inside-right channel, then whips a shot across Areola towards the top left. It flies wide, but not by much.
83 min: Noble comes on for Lanzini. It may be that Moyes is happy to settle for a 1-0 defeat, and take his chances in the second leg next week at the London Stadium.
81 min: Areola’s long pass forward is flicked on by Antonio and nearly releases Benrahma down the right. Not quite, but play is switched to the left, and in attempting to cut off Cresswell, En-Nesyri, coming back to cover, heads behind for a corner from the best part of 40 yards. Bono gets him out of bother at the set piece, though.
79 min: Antonio spins to make some space near the right-hand corner flag, but whips his cross too long, Soucek having made a run to the near post, nobody in claret at the far stick. Goal kick.
77 min: Navas heads into the West Ham box from the left. The ball pings off the top of Johnson’s head, and could easily loop over the out-of-position Areola and into the net, but fortunately for West Ham sails out for a corner that bears no fruit for Sevilla. Not even an orange.
76 min: Lanzini is booked for a cynical tug on Jordan’s shirt.
75 min: Munir, the late stand-in for the injured Rakitic and tonight’s goalscorer, is replaced by Manchester United loanee Martial.
74 min: Benrahma spins through 360 degrees as he dribbles his way down the inside right. Then another 360 pirouette! He very nearly breaks through. Not quite, but how graceful. And it’s got Sevilla flustered, because soon they’re shipping a chance to Lanzini, who has the opportunity to shoot from 20 yards. He drags wide left when he really had to work the keeper.
72 min: ... then just as it looked as though West Ham were going to go 2-0 down, they nearly equalise! Fornals busies himself down the right and cuts back from the byline. Lanzini opens his body to sidefoot powerfully goalwards ... but Navas flings himself bravely in the way to block. The small margins, huh.
71 min: A loose pass out from the back by Dawson is intercepted by Corona, who immediately slips Ocampos into the box down the left. Ocampos whistles a low shot across the face of goal and inches wide of the right-hand post.
70 min: Sevilla switch the free kick from the left to the right wing. Acuna curls in. Kounde, up from the back to cause bother, nearly takes up possession on the edge of the box, but the visitors just about manage to bundle the ball away.
69 min: Fornals clips Munir out on the left. Free kick. Everyone lines up on the edge of the West Ham box. Some crucial battles for West Ham coming up.
67 min: West Ham hold out, though they’re under intense pressure right now, and could do with the momentum shifting. To this end, Moyes hooks Vlasic and replaces him with Benrahma.
66 min: Corona dinks a clever little ball down the inside-right channel for himself, hoping to spin Zouma and shoot goalwards. He half achieves it, Zouma recovering to block the shot. From the resulting corner, Acuna is found in space down the right, and from a tight angle by the byline, nearly roofs one into the near corner. Areola does very well to tip over. Corner.
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64 min: ... but now West Ham try to respond. The impressive Johnson makes yet another run down the right. His cross is half cleared. Vlasic tries again from the same flank, and hoicks the ball out for a goal kick. He would have been better sending Johnson, romping on the overlap, free down the wing.
62 min: Sevilla grab possession back quickly after the restart, and probe in West Ham’s half. The visitors sit back and hold a determined shape, wisely playing it safe as they clear their heads in the wake of the goal.
GOAL! Sevilla 1-0 West Ham United (Munir 60)
What a goal this is! Acuna loops the free kick over everyone in the middle of the box. Munir, in space to the left, meets it on the half volley, and steers a stunner across Areola and into the bottom right! That’s an absolute peach of a finish, and a clever free kick to boot. And to think, Munir wasn’t in the starting XI until Rakitic pulled up lame in the warm-up.
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59 min: En-Nesyri sends a header straight at Areola from ten yards, meeting Navas’s right-wing cross lamely. Then the hosts come again, Zouma booked for taking down Acuna just to the right of the box. And from the resulting free kick ...
57 min: Navas on the right spreads long to Corona on the left. Corona sticks up a grateful arm of thanks before he even takes control of the ball. First Cresswell’s round of applause for Johnson, now this. Lovely to see. The world needs a little nice right now.
56 min: Ocampos larrups a shot over the bar from distance. West Ham are keeping the hosts at arm’s length right now.
54 min: Lanzini knocks Torres to the floor from behind, having miscued a tackle and whacked his opponent’s legs instead. He’s slightly fortunate not to go into the book, though in fairness Torres wasn’t the least bit annoyed and the pair exchanged pleasantries afterwards.
52 min: Antonio, Cresswell, Soucek and Lanzini combine well as West Ham advance forward. They’ve got Sevilla backtracking at speed, so imagine David Moyes’ irritation as Fornals floats an aimless forward ball out of play for a goal kick. A touchline jig of fury.
50 min: Antonio is down getting some treatment. A whack upside the head and not the usual hamstring complaint. He’s up again quickly enough.
49 min: A nice open start to this second half that suggests both teams fancy getting a result out of this.
47 min: Sevilla work the ball down the left. Jordan gets over-excited and blooters a wild shot over the bar from an ambitious distance. West Ham then have a pop of their own, Johnson crossing from the right, Antonio cushioning down for Soucek, who pearls a fierce shot towards the top left. Bono parries strongly.
Sevilla get the second half started. There have been no half-time changes. Meanwhile here’s Rob Lewis on the unique romance of European football: “You mentioned the former matches the Irons have played in Spain. I was at the later one, at Real Castilla in 1980. Was on holiday with my girlfriend of the time, and I suggested we leave the coast to visit Madrid. What for? she asked. I mumbled something about seeing the art in the Prado, she stared at me in disbelief. So there we were in the Bernabeu before you could say Jack Robinson. We lost the match but turned it round at Upton Park. That was the one and only match Penny attended anywhere in the world.”
Half-time entertainment. In case you don’t have the time to listen to the entire pod tonight, just set aside 60 seconds, scoot straight to 2m 40s, spin it, and listen to Max, Barry, Philippe and Lars yuk it up at PSG’s expense. You won’t regret it.*
* PSG fans may regret it
HALF TIME: Sevilla 0-0 West Ham United
Both teams have had their chances. Neither have troubled the keeper. West Ham will be the happier.
45 min: Cresswell, usually so dependable with his delivery, sends the corner straight out for a goal kick. There will be one added minute.
44 min: Now it’s West Ham’s turn to pass the ball this way and that along their back line. The home fans aren’t happy, and whistle away. Then suddenly the visitors break upfield through Johnson, who loops long towards Lanzini on the left wing. Lanzini’s volley earns a corner, deflected out on the left.
42 min: Sevilla have enjoyed 60 percent possession so far ... and they keep stroking it around, but to little effect at the moment. West Ham will be more than happy with this at the moment.
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40 min: ... but not badly enough for him to be back up and running in short order.
39 min: The game is stopped by the referee so Sevilla keeper Bono can get some attention. He looks to have rolled his left ankle.
37 min: Acuna, from a deep position on the left, slips a pass down the channel and very nearly releases Torres. Dawson comes across quickly to cover.
35 min: Plenty of whistles now as En-Nesyri goes down in the West Ham box, contesting Navas’s right-wing cross, in the general environs of Johnson. The crowd want a penalty, but the referee isn’t interested, and to be fair the Sevilla players make no claim.
34 min: Sevilla may not have managed to make the breakthrough yet, but their fans are still giving it the full treatment. It’s been a glorious atmosphere since the get-go.
32 min: Lanzini snaps into a tackle in the midfield on Torres to send West Ham on a counter attack. Antonio, Fornals and Lanzini can’t quite unlock the combination on the edge of the Sevilla box, but you can bet your last peseta Moyes enjoyed that thunderous intervention.
30 min: Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
29 min: Navas crosses from the right. En-Nesyri rises above Dawson and flashes a header straight at Areola. West Ham respond with a long pass down the middle. Antonio heads down for Vlasic, whose low drive is turned around the right-hand post by Bono.
27 min: Torres and Acuna combine well down the left, gliding infield, and suddenly Munir is found in a pocket of space just inside the West Ham box. From a central position, he whips a first-time sidefoot wide left. Another great chance. Both teams should have probably notched at least once.
25 min: Kounde strides down the right and creams a long diagonal pass towards Ocampos, romping into the West Ham box on the left. Ocampos tries to take the dropping ball past Johnson with his first touch, at full pace, but lets it fly out for a goal kick instead. If that had come off, he’d have been one on one with the keeper, and we’d all have been purring at the audacity of the move.
23 min: Johnson finds Cresswell with a pinpoint crossfield pass. Cresswell, upon trapping, gives his team-mate a theatrical round of applause.
21 min: Sevilla respond with a period of probing in West Ham territory. The Hammers hold their shape, just like a good Moyes team does.
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19 min: More space for Johnson down the right. His first-time cross nearly finds Vlasic and Soucek in the middle, but the ball somehow dissects the two and the hosts can clear.
18 min: This game is barrelling along at top speed. West Ham try to calm things down with a bit of sterile possession at the back.
16 min: Kounde steps out from the back to meet a loose bouncing ball. Nobody challenges him, so he chests down at full pace, then blooters the still-bouncing ball goalwards from 30 yards. If he’d caught it, it’d have been as spectacular as they come. If he’d caught it. Areola gathers with a yawn.
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14 min: Torres meets the corner with a volley, 12 yards out, hoping to replicate the sort of goal scored by Riyad Mahrez for Manchester City last weekend, or Paul Scholes for Manchester United all those years ago. He slices horribly into the stand behind.
13 min: Jordan snaffles possession 30 yards from goal, and takes aim. His long drive is deflected wide right for a corner.
11 min: A free kick for West Ham is sent into the Sevilla box. Rice heads it across the face of the goal from the left. Vlasic has to score with his diving header, six yards out, but clanks it straight at Bono, who parries. Antonio then fresh-air swipes from a similar distance, the hosts clear, and West Ham still haven’t found what they’re looking for.
10 min: Johnson drops a shoulder to make space down the right and zips down the wing. He hooks a fine cross into the mixer. Antonio shapes to shoot like Ocampos before him down the other end, but the ball’s cleared just in time.
8 min: Rakitic was injured in the warm-up, incidentally. He’s been replaced by the aforementioned Munir.
7 min: Lanzini carelessly loses possession on the edge of his own box. The ball breaks to En-Nesyri, whose shot is blocked. Ocampos then drags a shot wide right. West Ham are living a bit dangerously here.
5 min: West Ham show in attack for the first time, Antonio barging down the inside-right channel before lashing a shot into the side netting. A nice bright start to this match.
4 min: The relentless chanting continues. Corona finds some space down the right, reaching the byline and cuts back for Munir, who heads wide left from close range. He should have scored ... or maybe left it for Ocampos, who was just behind him and shaping to scissor kick home. Great chance for the hosts.
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2 min: This glorious steep-banked stadium is bouncing. The home fans nearly enjoy the perfect start as Acuna crosses from the left and En-Nesyri beats Zouma to a header. But the Sevilla forward sends it straight at Areola. An easy catch.
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West Ham get the ball rolling ... but only after both teams take the knee. Plenty of warm applause to greet the gesture. There’s no room for racism.
The teams are out! It’s sunny in Seville, and there’s a fine atmosphere at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. Sevilla play in first-choice white with red pinstripe, while West Ham sport their usual claret ... and they’re looking particularly good this evening because, as a result of the Spanish ban on betting advertising, they’re not carrying the name of a sponsor on the front of their chests. Fans of a certain vintage will be delighted at this old-school throwback treat. We’ll be off in a minute!
David Moyes speaks to BT Sport. “If you look at Sevilla’s history, the big thing about it is how many times they’ve won this competition. And they’re experienced in this competition as well. English teams have found them very difficult in the past, so we know it’s going to be a tough game. Our players have shown great resilience. When Micky [Antonio] wasn’t scoring, Jarrod [Bowen] scored the goals, Declan [Rice] was out on Saturday but the team performed very well, so whoever’s come in has done a great job. There is two legs to this game, and we can give ourselves a real chance at the London Stadium next week. But we also have to control it today. We’re all really excited about the game. I hope we get more of these in the future. It’s been a great day today, lots of West Ham supporters here, so let’s hope we can give them a good result.”
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There’s no Jarrod Bowen for West Ham, the forward having damaged his heel at Anfield last Saturday. However there’s good news in the shape of Declan Rice, who missed the weekend defeat to Liverpool through illness, but reclaims his place at the heart of the Hammers midfield. There’s only one other change: Alphonse Areola takes the place of Lucasz Fabianski in goal.
Sevilla drew 0-0 at Alaves last Friday, and they make just one change to an XI that includes erstwhile Barcelona superstar midfielder Ivan Rakitić and is captained by former Manchester City winger-cum-defender Jesús Navas. Óliver Torres comes in for the suspended Thomas Delaney. Manchester United loanee Anthony Martial returns from injury and starts on the bench.
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The teams
Sevilla: Bounou, Jesus Navas, Gudelj, Kounde, Acuna, Jordan, Rakitic, Torres, Corona, En-Nesyri, Ocampos.
Subs: Dmitrovic, Augustinsson, Munir, Mir, Martial, Cruz, Carmona, Sanchez, Pastor, Romero, Salas.
West Ham United: Areola, Johnson, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Lanzini, Fornals, Antonio, Vlasic.
Subs: Fabianski, Noble, Benrahma, Diop, Fredericks, Masuaku, Kral, Randolph, Alese, Chesters, Potts, Perkins.
Referee: Sandro Scharer (Switzerland).
Preamble
Sevilla have a formidable European record, specifically in this competition. They’ve won it on six occasions, once as the Uefa Cup, another five times in its current Europa League guise. They’re European royalty, albeit princes rather than kings. West Ham’s continental history is none too shabby either, mind: they were the second British club to win a European trophy, the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965, made another appearance in the final of the same competition in 1976, and won the not-particularly-lamented Intertoto Cup in 1999 …. but a win’s a win’s a win.
Two big, proud clubs meet at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán this evening, then. Sevilla got here by finishing third in Group G of this year’s Champions League, behind Lille and Salzburg, winning just one match in a fairly undistinguished group. That would give West Ham encouragement, were it not for the fact Julen Lopetegui’s side are a comfortable second in La Liga at the moment. But West Ham are here having comfortably won Group H of the Europa League, are currently involved in a chase for a top-four finish in the Premier League … and they’ve won both of their previous two European ties against Spanish opposition, seeing off Real Zaragoza in the 1964/65 Cup Winners’ Cup, and Real Madrid Castilla 6-4 in the same competition 16 years later.
Kick off in Seville is at 6.45pm local time, 5.45pm GMT. It’s on!
