Hammers’ hopes dented by Sevilla

West Ham’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League hang in the balance after they fell to a narrow defeat at Sevilla in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

Until that point David Moyes’ West Ham side had more than held their own in their first knockout tie in a major European competition since 1981.

Nikola Vlasic headed an early opportunity straight at Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, Michail Antonio then missing his kick with the follow up from close range.

Croatian forward Vlasic also saw Bounou tip a low driven effort around the post with Tomas Soucek also testing the home goalkeeper and Manuel Lanzini seeing his close-range effort blocked as the Hammers tried to breach the meanest defense in La Liga.

An end-to-end affair also saw the hosts create several openings of note with Munir heading wide from Jesus Corona’s cross, Youssef En-Nesyri going close and Lucas Ocampos flashing an effort across the face of the West Ham goal.

With Julen Lopetegui’s side occupying a second spot in La Liga, the difficulty of the Hammers’ assignment was evident and the task was further highlighted by Sevilla’s outstanding record at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium, where they have not lost a domestic game all season.

However, Moyes will be more than satisfied by the efficient manner in which his side went about their work.

And he will also have noted the impact of substitute Said Benrahma, whose elusive running caused the Spanish side several problems after his introduction and he may come into consideration to start the return leg at London Stadium on 17 March.