Andriy Yarmolenko’s extra-time goal ensured West Ham’s passage into the Europa League quarter-finals; David Moyes’ side knocked out six-time winners Sevilla; The Hammers overcame a 1-0 first-leg deficit to reach their first European quarter-final since 1981.
Yarmolenko’s goal was his second in as many games for West Ham since returning from compassionate leave following the war in his native Ukraine.
West Ham trailed 1-0 after the first leg, but Tomas Soucek’s first-half header leveled the tie, and while the Hammers controlled much of the second leg at the London Stadium, they were unable to find the decisive second goal in normal time.
Their big moment came in the second half of extra time when Yarmolenko, who came on as a substitute, scored.
Their big moment came in the second half of extra time, when Yarmolenko, who came on as an 87th-minute substitute, reacted quickest after goalkeeper Yassine Bounou parried Pablo Fornals’ strike, to tap home the rebound and set off even more emotional scenes.
The Ukraine international’s strike proved decisive as West Ham knocked out the six-time champions to book their place in Friday’s draw for the last eight of their remarkable European adventure.
Following the game, West Ham manager David Moyes told BT Sport: “This will be the highest we’ve ever had. We’ve had other nights like this. Avoiding relegation was a fantastic high, but thankfully we’ve moved on.
“Beating a previous winner of this competition made it even more memorable.
“We were the better side for the first 20 minutes, but we didn’t create many chances. They grew in strength before halftime.” The message was clear: we needed to keep fighting. Tonight was more like it. Our intensity in the second half was high until 70 minutes, when it began to wane. We picked up where we left off in extra time and kept going. We still don’t have the trophy. There are still difficult games to play.
“Nights like this are extremely beneficial to your development. Sevilla were probably the tournament favorites, in my opinion. It’s an incredible result for us to beat them on two legs.”
Yarmolenko was granted compassionate leave following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and thus missed West Ham’s 1-0 defeat in the first leg.
However, he reacted sharply to a rebound, sending the London club into a European quarter-final for the first time since 1981 and knocking out Sevilla, the competition’s record six-time winner.
An extra 30 minutes were required, and many home fans believed they had taken the lead when Soucek latched onto Dawson’s knockdown at the far post. The net bulged, but it collided with the side netting as a huge opportunity for Moyes’ side went begging.
Then came West Ham and Yarmolenko’s moment, which elicited wild celebrations at the London Stadium.
