Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
And with that, I’m off. Here’s Declan Rice’s reaction. Bye!
It was so, so special today. This club, the stadium, the fans, the players, we deserve these big European nights. We stepped up tonight. We knew with our fans and the quality we had on the pitch tonight we could do it. Probably the best night I’ve had at West Ham. I’ll take anyone. There’s no one to fear. Sevilla were probably the favourites. When the draw happened people thought we’d get knocked out, and we’ve knocked them out. We’ve worked hard for this. Relegation battles, from when Moyes come in. Still up there in the Premier League and now into the quarter-finals, so there’s a big buzz around the place.
The manager deserves massive credit. When he came in, we weren’t performing as a team. Before the game he gave a great speech, a motivational speech, that really spurred us on. I’m lost for words. Just walking around the pitch at the end, taking it all in. Everything about the night was so, so special.
I do hope Jacob Steinberg was able to enjoy his evening, despite having to write this match report and stuff:
This will go down as one of the greatest wins in West Ham’s history. It was an occasion to rival the night they said farewell to Upton Park and it could not have been more fitting that the decisive touch came from Andriy Yarmolenko, who was the calmest person in the stadium when the ball fell to him in front of goal with eight minutes of extra time left.
They were all off the bench when Yarmolenko put the rebound away after Sevilla’s goalkeeper, Bono, pushed Pablo Fornals’s shot into his path. The noise, the sheer emotion, took the breath away. This crowd had seen Yarmolenko mark his return from compassionate leave with a goalscoring cameo against Aston Villa last weekend and now they had witnessed the Ukrainian provide another moment of incredible drama, sending West Ham through to the last eight of the Europa League by overturning a first-leg deficit to beat Sevilla.
Much more here:
Michail Antonio has a chat:
It’s been unbelievable. This season, it’s like a dream come true. First time in Europe for me, coming today, it’s like, I don’t know what to say. It’s a dream come true. We came into the game, dominating. We always believed in ourselves and from the first half we were on them, driving, creating chances. We said, as long as we keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll get the win.
I’ve been here seven years, and the only atmosphere close to this was the last day at the Boleyn Ground. They were pushing us, they were backing us. They’re the ones that have done it for us.
We fear nobody. We’re in it to win it. We’re not here just to take part, and now we’re in the quarter-finals, why can’t we win it?
And on Yarmolenko:
What he’s going through right now, I can’t even imagine. It seems he’s got that finishing touch right now. I’m so happy for him, and hopefully he can keep doing it.
While we wait for BT Sport to find someone other than the Carlton and Joe Cole chuckle brothers to stick a microphone in front of, here’s a report on Everton’s last-gasp win over Newcastle:
Andriy Yarmolenko, though. Even when he scored he hardly smiled. What a moment for him. What a few weeks.
Updated
Tonight’s Europa League final scores:
Bayer Leverkusen 0-1 Atalanta (2-4 on aggregate)
Red Star Belgrade 2-1 Rangers (2-4)
Galatasaray 1-2 Barcelona (1-2)
Monaco 1-1 Sporting Braga (1-3)
Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Real Betis (3-2)
Lyon 1-1 Porto (2-1)
West Ham 2-0 Sevilla (2-1)
The winning teams will be joined in the quarter-final draw by Leipzig, who got a bye when Spartak Moscow were thrown out of the competition.
It has not been a good few minutes for Seville-based football teams: in Frankfurt Guido Rodriguez has scored a 120th-minute own-goal to send the home side through at the expense of Real Betis.
Final score: West Ham 2-0 Sevilla (West Ham win 2-1 on aggregate)
120+3 mins: It’s all over! West Ham dump Sevilla out of the Europa League and march into the quarter-finals!
Updated
120+1 mins: Yarmolenko plays a really clever pass down the left towards Noble - slow, loopy and into space for maximum time-usage. Plus he gets kicked by Montiel as he plays it, so West Ham have a free kick.
120+1 mins: Ryan Fredericks replaces Antonio as we go into two minutes of stoppage time. They will start with Areola taking a free-kick.
120 mins: West Ham thoroughly deserve this. They have efficiently stamped out Sevilla’s attacking threat while retaining their own, and have worked like absolute hounds.
119 mins: The keeper comes up for the corner, but it’s headed away.
119 mins: Sevilla have a corner. Before they take it, Issa Diop comes on for Fornals.
118 mins: West Ham keep the ball near the left corner flag for a while, until Fornals is caught offside.
117 mins: Cresswell somehow appears to have managed to get booked for getting cramp.
116 mins: Cresswell goes down with a spot of cramp. It all seems to be going off in the crowd, a seething mass of occasionally shirtless humanity.
114 mins: Mark Noble was always going to come on for a penalty shoot-out, and he replaces Lanzini just in case there is one.
113 mins: Right, strap yourselves in, these next eight minutes or so are going to be interesting. Montiel starts them by shooting over the bar from the right side of the area.
GOAL! West Ham 2-0 Sevilla (2-1 on aggregate)!
Andriy Yarmolenko gives West Ham the aggregate lead! The ball is played across to Fornals, who comes onto his right foot and sends in a low, bouncing shot that Bounou pushes straight to Yarmolenko, who strokes it back into the net!
Updated
111 mins: One more substitution for Sevilla. Gudelj goes off, and Jose Angel Carmona comes on.
109 mins: West Ham break, and Antonio runs from left to right into Sevilla’s half, drags a couple of defenders with him, notices Fornals running free into a now-empty left half of the pitch, and plays a frustratingly useless pass that Bounou fetches.
106 mins: Thirty-three seconds later, the ball runs perfectly to Rice, just outside the D. He hammers a shot miles over the bar, and way wide of the post.
Updated
106 mins: For the final time, the ball is kicked off.
Half time in extra time: West Ham 1-0 Sevilla (1-1 on aggregate)
105+1 mins: The three-quarter-time whistle blows. West Ham have spent much of extra time so far on the front foot, but the tie remains level.
105 mins: Kevin Nolan, West Ham’s first team coach, is booked for something, my guess would be overdoing his complaints to the fourth official about the lack of free-kick for Antonio (see 104 mins).
105 mins: Rice goes past a couple of players and finds himself a couple of yards outside the penalty area. Once there he seems unsure what to do next, so gives it to Antonio, who runs it out of play.
104 mins: Antonio goes down on the edge of the penalty area, but gets nothing. West Ham have had a good third half.
101 mins: Martial is not going to make the difference in extra time, because he has been taken off. Luis Cruz comes on.
99 mins: Cheers as Soucek heads the ball into the net from a Fornals corner, but it’s the side netting! Dawson headed it down and across goal, and Soucek dives and sends a decent chance wide!
Updated
97 mins: Rafa Mir is this close to ridiculously outsprinting Lanzini and running clear on goal, but the West Ham midfielder dives to push the ball away from the Israeli.
96 mins: Munir comes on for Corona.
95 mins: Martial has been pretty quiet all evening, which perhaps means he’ll be fresh enough to influence it now. Not right now, though, as he does a few lollipops and crosses straight to Areola.
93 mins: A lovely chipped pass to Antonio in the area, but he spins and leaves the ball behind.
91 mins: Peeeeep! Our bonus half-hour has begun!
Sevilla bring Rafa Mir on for En-Nesyri before play restarts.
It's going to extra time!
90+3 mins: Zouma wins the header but the ball loops away from goal, and with that Clement Turpin blows for time.
90+2 mins: A roar goes up as it’s awarded. This is surely the last action of normal time. Cresswell jogs over...
90+1 mins: We are one minute away from extra time. West Ham have a corner.
90 mins: West Ham break and flood forward in numbers, but now Cresswell is at the other end producing a rubbish cross of his own.
89 mins: Finally a good cross from Sevilla, but Creswell defends it well at the far post.
87 mins: Yarmolenko replaces Benrahma.
86 mins: Benrahma cuts in from the left and curls a shot into Bounou’s arms.
Updated
85 mins: Sevilla try to find a way through the middle of West Ham’s defence, but there is none. On the touchline, Andriy Yarmolenko prepares to come on.
83 mins: ... from which Soucek heads over. Goal kick.
82 mins: After a spell of West Ham pressure, and a shorter one from Sevilla, an extra-time-shaped fog is starting to settle over this game. But hang on, West Ham have just won a corner ...
79 mins: Sevilla win a free-kick, 45 yards out. They play it out to the left, so someone else can send in a rubbish cross.
77 mins: Now Kounde gets forward on the right, but his cross is also poor.
74 mins: The wind seems to have escaped from the home side’s sails a little, and Sevilla have kept the ball for a while and sent in a few crosses, all well defended.
71 mins: Chance for Sevilla! A long pass through to En-Nesyri, who draws a defender and prods back to Jesus Corona, who spears over the bar when well placed.
70 mins: Another West Ham corner, but this time the referee spots a foul. They really need to capitalise on this period of dominance.
68 mins: West Ham win a corner. Everyone comes forward, gets into position. Referee stops it being taken to talk to a couple of defenders. Everyone gets back into position. Eventually Cresswell takes it and ... curls it straight out of play.
65 mins: Sevilla are reeling here. West Ham briefly have five against three, but Soucek passes to Fornals on the right, and his low cross is rubbish and hits one of the three.
63 mins: Save! Lanzini batters a left-footed shot from the edge of the area that Bounou beats away. Lanzini runs onto the loose ball and tries to turn it in but Bounou gets something on it again, and when Antonio tries to turn it over the line the flag goes up for offside.
61 mins: West Ham are having a moment, dominating possession and pushing Seville back, without really creating anything.
58 mins: A decent West Ham attack features Rice repeatedly ignoring cries of “shooooooot!” from the crowd when wide on the right and eventually sending a decent cross to the far post, where a defender beats Cresswell to the header and then falls over convincingly enough for the referee to give a free kick.
56 mins: Ivan Rakitic leaves the field, and Oliver Torres replaces him.
55 mins: The ball is chipped over the defence for En-Nesyri, who from the right-hand corner of the area lashes a half-volley wide.
Updated
53 mins: There are definitely more goals in this game. There’s a lovely air of wildness about it at the moment.
50 mins: West Ham boot the ball forward to Gudelj, who is then outmuscled by Antonio who executes a complicated spin-dive combo manoeuvre that the referee is unimpressed by.
46 mins: A shooting chance for Soucek, 22 seconds into the half, but from just inside the penalty area he lashes his effort straight at Bounou. He beats it away to Rice, wide on the left, who really has no business shooting from there. Goal kick.
46 mins: The home side get the second half under way.
The West Ham players are back out and ready for more. They just need the opposition to turn up.
As for West Ham, so far so good. There have only been two moments of genuine quality: Areola’s save from En-Nesyri, and West Ham’s goal a few minutes later. The tie is on a knife-edge now, but West Ham will feel a quarter-final place is within their grasp.
The Everton protester has been cut free of the post and is now being literally carried from the ground by six security men, like he’s a canoe or something. Unusual.
Meanwhile at Goodison Park, where Everton are drawing 0-0 with Newcastle a few minutes into the second half, a Everton fan has come onto the pitch and tied himself by the neck to a goalpost.
Updated
Half time: West Ham 1-0 Sevilla (1-1 on aggregate)
45+1 mins: A goal, a booking, a few relatively minor stoppages, and the referee allows six seconds for stoppages. West Ham lead at the break (on the night), and so are drawing (on aggregate).
Updated
45 mins: En-Nesyri heads wide from eight yards or so and flings his arms about with frustration.
43 mins: That was pure quality from Antonio, who was forced to turn away from goal after initially receiving the ball on the edge of the area and sniffing a shot, and brilliantly reassessed his options before chipping a perfect cross onto Soucek’s forehead. I’m not sure he had any idea where Soucek was, but it was a delicious cross whoever was around to attack it.
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Sevilla (1-1 on aggregate)!
The breakthrough! Michail Antonio chips a lovely left-footed cross into the six-yard box and Soucek outjumps Augustinsson to send a header curling into the far corner!
Updated
36 mins: In the space of a minute or so Cresswell and Benrahma both get space on the left to cross, with plenty of people in the box to aim for, but pick out the hands of Bounou.
34 mins: Lanzini brings down Thomas Delaney with a late lunge, and gets a booking.
32 mins: A Navas cross is headed away to Jordan, who has space and time to prepare his left-foot volley but completely fluffs it anyway.
29 mins: What a chance for West Ham! Benrahma slides a lovely ball through to Antonio, who spins and faces goal but side-foots into Bounou and it’s scrambled clear!
Updated
28 mins: Another Areola save, though this one is a relatively routine one from a hard but central long-range shot. Sevilla have had four shots on goal, West Ham only one.
26 mins: What a save! Sevilla come so close to a killer goal, En-Nesyri smashing a first-time left-footer goalwards from 12 yards and Areola throwing out a right hand to push it to safety!
Updated
22 mins: An encouraging opening quarter for both sides, really. West Ham have kept the ball well and looked vaguely threatening, and Michail Antonio looks in the mood. Sevilla haven’t conceded so much as a shot on goal and the referee is generous to optimistic free kick appeals.
19 mins: Jordan’s effort hits Soucek in the wall and goes over.
Updated
17 mins: Jesus Corona throws himself to the ground with absurd theatricality when Rice touches his back, and compounds it by rolling around for ages holding his back like he’d been clobbered with a jackhammer. Sadly the referee buys it, and Sevilla have an excellent shooting chance from the free-kick.
14 mins: Antonio gives the ball away but Dawson stops Sevilla breaking by flattening En-Nesyri on the halfway line, for which he is punished only with a free-kick.
12 mins: As I type that, the ball is chipped into the area and Lanzini volleys goalwards, but Gudelj gets in the way.
11 mins: Sevilla are defending the width of their penalty area, and though Cresswell (regularly) and Johnson (occasionally) have had a bit of space in wide positions, nobody’s had a sniff inside the penalty area.
8 mins: After all that the first shot of the match comes from Sevilla, though Navas is facing the corner flag as he hits it and gets it nowhere near goal.
6 mins: The home side win a corner, which dips nastily into the six-yard box but not onto a Hammer head.
4 mins: So far, so promising for West Ham, who have had most of the ball, mostly in Sevilla’s half. They’ve attempted couple of forays down the left already, but nothing to worry Yassine Bounou in the Sevilla goal.
2 mins: Sevilla hit the ball into touch, under little pressure and to massive cheers from the stands.
1 min: And we’re off!
Tonight’s fourth official is one of the best-named whistle-blowers in all of Europe if not the world, Ruddy Buquet.
The players are now out, and either BT Sport are playing silly buggers with their sound levels or the home fans are making a godawful racket, just as Moyes requested.
Lights off, fire cannons on, the players are about to emerge!
“We need the supporters to come up to scratch and help us,” says David Moyes, “because we’ll need all the help we can get tonight. I’m sure they won’t let me down.” The atmosphere already seems decent and there’s still 15 minutes before kick-off.
Updated
Before we get started here, Rangers are on the verge of confirming victory over Red Star Belgrade:
It looks like the home fans have been given some special themed West Ham bin bags, and they look absolutely delighted about it.
The teams!
Team sheets have been submitted, and the names upon them were these:
West Ham: Areola, Johnson, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Lanzini, Fornals, Antonio, Benrahma. Subs: Fabianski, Yarmolenko, Vlasic, Noble, Diop, Fredericks, Masuaku, Kral, Randolph, Alese, Chesters, Perkins.
Sevilla: Bounou, Jesus Navas, Kounde, Gudelj, Augustinsson, Jordan, Delaney, Rakitic, Corona, En-Nesyri, Martial. Subs: Dmitrovic, Montiel, Munir, Mir, Torres, Cruz, Carmona, Romero, Zarzana, Flores, Fattore, Salas.
Referee: Clement Turpin (France).
Antonio and Cress both start tonight.
— West Ham United (@WestHam) March 17, 2022
Here's how we're lining up against Sevilla...#WHUSEV | #UEL pic.twitter.com/k9GdTOnVFp
Our 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗥𝗦 for tonight ⚔️ #WHUSEV | #UEL pic.twitter.com/VjEWqybfzc
— Sevilla FC (@SevillaFC_ENG) March 17, 2022
Hello world!
Am I a fan of the dark arts? I’m not. This is a gentleman’s sport. In some way we’re all desperate to win and we’d kick your granny to try to get a result. But in the same breath, I think behind it all, you want to win in a fair and correct fashion.
That’s a Champions League-level manager quote right there from David Moyes. Love it. Love. It. I think Atletico Madrid never really got out of second gear on the gamesmanship front during their victory over Manchester United, but it was still enough to get a lot of Englishfolk nattering about Spaniards and game management. “If you watched Atletico Madrid, they did a great job on Manchester United in killing the game off at times, so we have to be well aware how we manage that and we don’t let it get to us and keep our focus,” Moyes said.
Well that’s one thing they need to think about as they go into a game they need to grab by the metaphorical scruff. Sevilla come to London with a 1-0 aggregate lead and thus West Ham know they have to score and win this game if they are to avoid elimination. Against a side that last lost a league match at Real Madrid in November, fully 14 games ago, and currently sits second in La Liga, this will not be an easy task. As a neutral, it will probably/hopefully be fun to watch them try. Welcome!
