This was a game of fine margins and in the end it belonged to the side with greater European expertise. Sevilla were everything we have come to expect in this competition – clinical when the moment arrived, obdurate enough to hold out once they were ahead – and the question now is whether West Ham are capable of learning a few tricks of their own before this absorbing tie resumes at the London Stadium next week.
The challenge is daunting. Caught cold when a clever set-piece routine allowed Munir El Haddadi to give Sevilla the lead with a sweet strike on the hour, the primary emotion for West Ham was frustration. David Moyes’s side missed several excellent chances in both halves and, while they will back themselves to turn this last-16 tie around, they know that their European adventure will be over if their finishing does not improve.
Crucially, though, they still have belief. The underdogs were beaten, but they were not disgraced. They created enough to suggest they can still upset the odds and it is worth taking a moment to consider how far they have come since appointing Moyes two years ago.
After all, this, a glamour tie against opponents who more or less own this competition, was unfamiliar territory. West Ham have been more accustomed to battling relegation than competing on the European stage and it would have been understandable if there had been a few nerves at kick-off, a few players in claret and blue wondering if they truly deserved to be at the Ramón Sánchez Pijuán, where there is no shortage of reminders that Sevilla have won the Europa League six times.
Yet there is a robustness to West Ham these days and they did not look out of their depth during the first half. Their football was crisp and their boldness unsettled Sevilla at times, particularly with Michail Antonio running the channels and doing everything possible to ruffle a defence that looked vulnerable with Nemanja Gudelj alongside Jules Koundé instead of the injured Diego Carlos.
The early action was end-to-end, the first jabs coming from Sevilla. Yet while West Ham were fortunate not to fall behind when El Haddadi headed wide from Jesús Navas’s cross, the visitors had their moments. Antonio was a nuisance, barging past Gudelj before shooting wide, and West Ham seemed certain to take the lead when Declan Rice nodded Manuel Lanzini’s free-kick into the six-yard box, only for Nikola Vlasic to head too close to Bono.
It was a bad miss but West Ham were causing problems. Rice was working well with Tomas Soucek after recovering from a stomach upset. The full-backs, Aaron Cresswell and Ben Johnson, had freedom to support the attack and there were more encouraging moments for West Ham before half-time, Bono pushing an effort from Vlasic wide and Antonio’s cross just evading Soucek.
West Ham, who need Jarrod Bowen to recover from an achilles injury before the second leg, had to be more clinical. Sevilla were without several important players and their problems increased when Ivan Rakitic fell ill during the warm-up, El Haddadi coming in for the influential midfielder, but the hosts still had plenty of threats.
El Haddadi was lively, sliding a shot just wide, and West Ham had another escape when Youssef En-Nesyri eluded Kurt Zouma and Craig Dawson. Alphonse Areola responded sharply to the striker’s header.
The game was nicely balanced at the break. West Ham had settled, Rice winning his tackles and oozing confidence. Gaps appeared and they went close at the start of the second half, Antonio teeing up Soucek to draw another fine save from Bono.
Sevilla were in a game. Sensing danger, their fans increased the noise. Julen Lopetegui was whipping his players up and West Ham had to retreat, their defence breathing a sigh of relief when En Nesyri spurned another good headed chance.
Had West Ham’s moment passed? Their finishing has been wasteful in recent weeks. Sevilla had started to press more and West Ham were edgy, the signs ominous when Zouma conceded a free-kick after being played into trouble deep on the right.
A goal was coming. Marcos Acuña trotted across from left-back to take the free-kick and West Ham momentarily forget themselves, nobody spotting El Haddadi lurking on the left of the area. Nobody, that is, apart from Acuña, whose delivery caught West Ham out and sat up perfectly for El Haddadi to clip a beautiful finish.
It was a sloppy goal and they were fortunate not to fall further behind when Lucas Ocampos curled a shot narrowly wide. Something had to change. Moyes replaced Vlasic with Saïd Benrahma and West Ham improved, Lanzini denied an equaliser by a heroic block from Navas. Not for the first time, the finishing touch had eluded them. It needs to return next Thursday.
