Sevilla will take a narrow lead to London after they beat West Ham 1-0 in the first leg of the Europa League last-16 tie.
There was very little to separate the sides in the first hour in Seville, as the Hammers enjoyed some bright moments in their first European knockout match for more than 40 years.
Munir struck for the home side to give them a slight advantage at the halfway stage of the tie, but West Ham won’t be too disheartened and they remain well in it ahead of next week’s return fixture at the London Stadium.
Declan Rice was fit to start for the Hammers after his recent illness, while there was a significant blow for Sevilla just before kick-off when Ivan Rakitic was injured in the warm-up and forced to miss out.
He was replaced in the starting lineup by Munir, and the Moroccan should have put the home side in front inside four minutes. The ball was crossed into the box, Munir found himself completely free but headed well wide.
West Ham grew into it though and should have taken the lead themselves shortly after. Rice headed a free-kick back across the face of goal for Nikola Vlasic, who headed an effort straight at Yassine Bounou when he looked certain to score. The rebound fell to Michail Antonio, who took a big swing and made no real contact.
Youssef En-Nesyri was a real threat in the air and twice went close for Sevilla, while Munir guided a tame effort wide as he again failed to make the most of a big opportunity.
It was more of the same after the break, with Sevilla having plenty of the ball and West Ham looking to cause problems on the break. Tomas Soucek found space on the edge of the box and had a powerful strike well saved by the goalkeeper.
As in the first-half, the West Ham centre-backs struggled to deal with En-Nesyri when balls were swung into the box - fortunately for them the striker once again found Areola with a header rather than the back of the net.
Munir put his two earlier misses behind him to put Sevilla in front with a far more difficult finish on the hour mark. Marcos Acuna swung a free-kick to the back post where Munir was in space, and he ran onto it to sweep home a half-volley into the far corner superbly.
The Hammers were under the cosh and struggled in the ten minutes after that goal, as Sevilla pushed to take real control of the tie.
Said Benrahma was introduced and sparked the visitors back into life. Manuel Lanzini was denied from close range by a stunning block from Jesus Navas, before the Hammers man drilled an effort wide from just outside the box.
The introduction of Mark Noble late on suggested David Moyes was keen to avoid any further damage, and West Ham did just that to keep the deficit to one goal and ensure they go into the second leg with hope that their European adventure is far from over.
