West Ham – Sevilla: Historic Night For Proactive Hammers (2-0)

West Ham started the game with an attacking mindset, looking to cancel out the deficit from the first leg. With the help of suitable midfield roles in their possession game, they were able to do this in the first half through Tomáš Souček’s goal. There was no separating the teams in the second half, but Andriy Yarmolenko was the hero in extra time as his goal brought West Ham an impressive win. 

Tactical analysis and match report by Josh Manley.

David Moyes’ West Ham side had an uphill task coming into this match as they had a one goal deficit from the first leg in Spain. They received a boost in the lead up to the game as Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell were both able to start after there had been doubts about whether they would make it. Joining Cresswell in the back four was Benjamin Johnson, Craig Dawson and Kurt Zouma, while in midfield Declan Rice and Tomáš Souček made up the double pivot. Two central midfielders next to each other. Supporting Antonio in attack in their 4-2-3-1 system was Pablo Fornals, Manuel Lanzini and Saïd Benrahma. 

Sevilla also lined up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with Julen Lopetegui opting for a back four of Jesús Navas, Jules Koundé, Nemanja Gudelj and Ludwig Augustinsson. In midfield there was Ivan Rakitić playing at number ten in front of Joan Jordán and Thomas Delaney, while Anthony Martial joined Youssef En-Nesyri and Tecatito Corona in attack as Sevilla looked to capitalise on their 1-0 aggregate advantage. 

West Ham seek aggressive stance
Naturally, being behind on aggregate coming . . .