El Haddadi’s second-half goal gives Sevilla a 1-0 lead over West Ham heading into the second leg.
Both sides were pretty equal in the first half before a clever free-kick separated them in the second.
Acuna lifted the cross over everyone in the middle to pick out El Haddadi in space at the far side, and he picked out the bottom corner with his low shot.
West Ham struggled to create much in response, but it’s still all to play for in the tie.
Starting Lineup:
SEVILLA STARTING XI (4-2-3-1): Yassine Bounou;
Jesus Navas, Jules Kounde, Nemanja Gudelj, Marcos Acuna;
Joan Jordan, Oliver Torres; Jesus Manuel Corona, Munir El Haddadi, Lucas Ocampos;
Youssef En-Nesyri.
SEVILLA SUBS: Luis Cruz, Rafa Mir, Anthony Martial, Kike Salas, Alfonso Pastor, Jose Carmona,
Juanlu Sanchez, Ivan Romero, Marko Dmitrovic, Ivan Rakitic, Ludwig Augustinsson.
WEST HAM STARTING XI (4-3-3): Alphonse Areola;
Ben Johnson, Craig Dawson, Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell;
Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice, Manuel Lanzini;
Pablo Fornals, Michail Antonio, Nikola Vlasic.
WEST HAM SUBS: Mark Noble, Alex Kral, Freddie Potts, Said Benrahma, Darren Randolph,
Sonny Perkins, Ajibola Alese, Daniel Chesters, Arthur Masuaku, Ryan Fredericks, Lucasz Fabianski, Issa Diop.
Goals:
EL HADDADI SCORES! It’s a brilliantly worked free-kick by Sevilla, with Acuna lifting the cross over the crowd in the middle to pick out El Haddadi in acres of space on the far side. He hits the shot the first time, drilling it low and across the goal. Areola is static, and it nestles in the bottom corner. 1-0 Sevilla.
So, what’s next for Sevilla and West Ham United?
Sevilla will take their narrow lead to the London Stadium, where the second leg will be next Thursday.
Before that, they face Rayo Vallecano in LaLiga. West Ham has now lost three games on the bounce in all competitions and faces Aston Villa in the Premier League before the return match.
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