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Kossounou, who’s having a mare, gives the ball away, West Ham work it to Bowen, infield off the right and 35 yards out. He curls in a brute of a cross, Kovar eventually comes, and Antonio outjumps and outmuscles both him and the unfortunate Kossounou to head a livener into the net! Game on!
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Antonio of West Ham United scores his team’s first goal past Matej Kovar.","caption":"Michail Antonio of West Ham United scores his team’s first goal past Matej Kovar.","credit":"Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images"}}],"attributes":{"pinned":false,"keyEvent":true,"summary":false},"blockCreatedOn":1713467729000,"blockCreatedOnDisplay":"20.15 BST","blockLastUpdated":1713468056000,"blockLastUpdatedDisplay":"20.20 BST","blockFirstPublished":1713467835000,"blockFirstPublishedDisplay":"20.17 BST","blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone":"20.17","title":"GOAL! West Ham United (1) 1-0 (2) (Antonio 13)","contributors":[],"primaryDateLine":"Thu 18 Apr 2024 20.28 BST","secondaryDateLine":"First published on Thu 18 Apr 2024 18.45 BST"},{"id":"66215fea8f082d4336f52a14","elements":[{"_type":"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement","html":"
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell; Ward-Prowse, Alvarez; Kudus, Soucek, Bowen; Antonio. Subs: Anang, Knightbridge, Johnson, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Casey, Mubama, Swyer, Orford.
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Bayer Leverkusen (4-2-3-1): Kovar; Stanisic, Tah, Kossounou, Hincapie; Xhaka, Palacios; Tella, Wirtz, Grimaldo; Schick. Subs: Hradecky, Lomb, Hofmann, Andrich, Tapsoba, Arthur, Adli, Boniface, Frimpong, Puerta, Izekor.
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Bundesliga champions, DFB-Pokal finalists and an overall record of Played 43 Won 38 Drawn 5 Lost 0; somehow, Xabi Alonso has magicked Neverkusen into Everkusen and his squad stand on the cusp of one of football’s all-time great seasons.
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In a sense they’ve already started next term too, retaining the services of their manager despite stiff competition for them. So, with that decided and the pressure of a title race converted into ecstatic relief, they arrive in London looking and feeling impregnable.
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Not so fast. While it’s true that Victor Boniface’s injury-time goal which turned 1-0 into 2-0 seemed like the decisive moment of this tie, West Ham have won every European home game across the last two seasons and, like almost every Premier League side, have the artillery to hurt any opponent – if they can get enough of the ball.
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Which is a big “if”, granted, but Leverkusen will only progress if they’re able to contain Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio and Mohammed Kudus – while dealing with West Ham’s threat at set-pieces, and that too is a not insubstantial “if”. Chances are they find a way because that’s what they do, but if they’re still celebrating their weekend triumph and even if they’re not, tonight will be a serious challenge.
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Kick-off: 8pm BST
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Key events
25 min Poor old Kossounou. On the ball on the edge of his own box, he’s put under a bit of pressure and promptly passes into touch. And what’s this?! Kudus, out on the left, curls a terrific cross to the back post and Bowen has an aeon to wait under underneath it, opting for a sidefooter rather than laces and making decent connection too! But scrambling down by his near post, Kovar does just enough to block it to safety.
24 min So far, this has been an old skool Canon League Division One match, and that’s suiting West Ham far more than Leverkusen.
22 min West Ham are dominating now, Ward-Prowse making his way down the left and standing up a cross, but Antonio, forced to generate his own power, does a good job but can’t find the power or direction to seriously trouble Kovar.
20 min Stanisic boots the ball away and avoids a card, Moyes protesting and noising up the crowd while Alonso urges his men to chill. They’ve not been rattled much this season, but they’re not enjoying this.
18 min I wonder if Alonso will make an early change, because his defenders look petrified. An up and under allows Kudus to barge Stanisic off it from underneath, and for a second, he’s a chance to roll a square-pass into the path of the onrushing Ward-Prowse. But instead he opts to shoot, a deflection forcing Kovar to make a scrambling save, just.
16 min The referee has a quite stupendous window’s peak.
15 min The crowd fancy this now, and so do their team. Kovar and Kossounou both look extremely uncomfy out there, and if West Ham can put them under, I’d not be surprised of more mistakes follow. I wondered if it was breaking the rules to accuse someone of having a mare so early on, but then I remembered Tiemoue Bakayoko for Chelsea at Watford in 2018.
GOAL! West Ham United (1) 1-0 (2) (Antonio 13)
Kossounou, who’s having a mare, gives the ball away, West Ham work it to Bowen, infield off the right and 35 yards out. He curls in a brute of a cross, Kovar eventually comes, and Antonio outjumps and outmuscles both him and the unfortunate Kossounou to head a livener into the net! Game on!
13 min Already, this has been more of a contest than the first leg.
11 min A poor throw from Coufal eventually winds up with Palacios, who shoves forward for Tella; he takes a touch, has a look, and from the edge drills a riser that Fabianski, 39 today, turns around the post. The corner comes to nowt, but that was far too easy for Leverkusen.
10 min So far, this has been a bit of a mess, and Kossounou, who looks nervous, gives it away to Kudus … whose heavy touch means he’s immediately unloaded.
8 min Kovar, pressed by Ward-Prowse, sways inside then passes feet over ball and moves outside. Dicey, but lovely.
7 min There’s been a development in Bergamo! Mohamed Salah’s penalty puts Liverpool 1-0 up on the night and 3-1 down on aggregate. Atalanta will be feeling it.
6 min The free-kick, 40 yards out, goes square, and Coufal duly leathers it behind.
5 min Both sides enjoy a bit of possession knocking the ball about at the back, but Fabianski isn’t having any of that nonsense, humping it long, and when Kossounou’s touch is poor, Ward-Prowse nicks away possession, wears the inevitable leg high across his path, and the defender is booked.
3 min It’s been all West Ham so far and the crowd are behind them, but also so far, there’s been precious little guile and, as I type, Leverkusen settle, Alvarez forced to haul Palacios down when he brings the ball away.
2 min A year ago, Kovar was Man United’s fourth-choice keeper and now he’s a champion; Jadon Sancho will fancy taking that a step further.
1 min Kudus progesses down the left and crosses, Coufal slings it back in from the other wide, and Kovar claims.
1 min From kick-off, West Ham shmeiss it long. Of course they do.
1 min And away we go!
…and here come the teams!
Our players are tunnelled…
As for Leverkusen, they’ll fancy themselves to stretch the pitch, forcing West Ham’s back four to cover the width of it, thereby creating space for Wirtz. They’ll also reckon Soucek not to have the mobility to keep up with them, which will leave Álvarez with a lot of work to do.
Where is the game? I can’t lie, if I was a West Ham fan I’d have wanted the Moyesiah to be a little more bullish rather than extol the quality of their opponents. But they’re a live dog here, and will be looking to Cresswell and Ward-Prowse to deliver quality into the box, with Bowen and Kudus seeking the spaces between the Leverkusen centre-backs and full-backs. I daresay Moyes will also wants Soucek running off Xhaka, but if Leverkusen dominate possession this all becomes much harder. So I’d expect the Irons to try and play their way into the game – I’m no sure about that, as I wonder if their best hope is to get after it early – then commit more men forward as things develop.
I just saw someone in the crowd wearing the West Ham Dagenham Motors kit from the 90s. My school didn’t do sport properly – inner London comp, nae grounds – but we played one game, and somehow, our teacher turned up with 11 West Ham Dagenham Motors kits. You can imagine how that went down. I’m afraid the film right to this epic tale have already been optioned.
David Moyes tells TNT that it’s a big task but West Ham will approach it in the right way. They won’t open up immediately – ha, who thought they would? – but will want to put more pressure on “a really supreme opponent” than they did last week.
Otherwise, Mavrapanos has an injury to the sole of his foot but he hopes Bowen can make a difference and notes that this is his side’s third quarter in three years and they won the first two.
Matthew Matty Cash has equalised for Villa in Lille; it’s 3-3 on aggregate so they’re playing extra time.
All that, 20 minutes before the teams come out? That is one confident manager.
Asked about Florian Wirtz, he rhapsodises “a special player”, saying they need to get him on the ball in the right positions. He makes runs that can’t be taught, in the pocket and between the lines, is really good at making the right pass at the right moment, to the millimetre, and they’ve been pushing him this season to crave more goals.
More Alonso: against a low block – which they faced against West Ham last week – the centre-backs are important and their rest defence needs to be good so they can counter-press effectively. They don’t want to face many transitions, but they’ve had enough time during the year to work on that kind of thing and now it’s an automatism.
Alonso speaks! Sunday, when they won the league for the first time ever, was “very special” but from Tuesday they focused on what’s a big task tonight. West Ham are a “very intense team”, Bowen is back, and they hammered Freiburg. But the plan isn’t to nurse the lead, rather to play football and try and win the game.
Asked specifically about Bowen, he compliments his energy and quality, saying he’s “one of the top players”, then asked about his style, he says it’s mainly down to having good players. it’s not really about the tactics, rather about the principles – they can switch formations and they’re not a soft team.
I wonder why Alonso has made those changes. Frimpong certainly seemed to celebrate well the other day but I imagine the rotation is because he’s got the Cup, Europe and the unbeaten record to defend so, with a 2-0 lead, this is a decent time to make changes – especially given the quality of his squad. On which point, I’m really looking forward to seeing who arrives in the summer, because one big sale plus Champions League money equals decent scope in the market.
The return of Jarrod Bowen is a massive boon for West Ham. Obviously he scores goals, but more than that, he’s stepped up a level this season – this isn’t a run of form º and his teammates know they can rely on him.
Elsewhere: in the Conference, Lille lead Villa 2-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate with 10 minutes to go.
Leverkusen, meanwhile, make changes from the first leg too. Out go Edmund Tapsoba, Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli, with Piero Hincapié, Odilon Kossounou and Nathan Tella coming on. They too change from 3-4-2-1 to 4-2-3-1.
West Ham are without Lucas Paquetá, who’s suspended – that’s a massive miss – but his replacement is Edson Álvarez, who was suspended for the first leg. Otherwise, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Emerson, also suspended, drop out, with Nayef Aguerd and Jarrod Bowen coming in. As a consequence, there’s also a formation-change, from 3-4-2-1 to 4-2-3-1 or, as Uefa have it, 4-3-3.
I’ll write those down, then we’ll wonder what they might mena.
Teams!
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell; Ward-Prowse, Alvarez; Kudus, Soucek, Bowen; Antonio. Subs: Anang, Knightbridge, Johnson, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Casey, Mubama, Swyer, Orford.
Bayer Leverkusen (4-2-3-1): Kovar; Stanisic, Tah, Kossounou, Hincapie; Xhaka, Palacios; Tella, Wirtz, Grimaldo; Schick. Subs: Hradecky, Lomb, Hofmann, Andrich, Tapsoba, Arthur, Adli, Boniface, Frimpong, Puerta, Izekor.
Also for you…
Preamble
Bundesliga champions, DFB-Pokal finalists and an overall record of Played 43 Won 38 Drawn 5 Lost 0; somehow, Xabi Alonso has magicked Neverkusen into Everkusen and his squad stand on the cusp of one of football’s all-time great seasons.
In a sense they’ve already started next term too, retaining the services of their manager despite stiff competition for them. So, with that decided and the pressure of a title race converted into ecstatic relief, they arrive in London looking and feeling impregnable.
Not so fast. While it’s true that Victor Boniface’s injury-time goal which turned 1-0 into 2-0 seemed like the decisive moment of this tie, West Ham have won every European home game across the last two seasons and, like almost every Premier League side, have the artillery to hurt any opponent – if they can get enough of the ball.
Which is a big “if”, granted, but Leverkusen will only progress if they’re able to contain Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio and Mohammed Kudus – while dealing with West Ham’s threat at set-pieces, and that too is a not insubstantial “if”. Chances are they find a way because that’s what they do, but if they’re still celebrating their weekend triumph and even if they’re not, tonight will be a serious challenge.
Kick-off: 8pm BST