Europa Conference League: West Ham and Nice secure vital away wins as last 16 commences
AEK Larnaca - West Ham 0-2
West Ham United beat AEK Larnaca 2-0 in the first leg of their Europa Conference League Round of 16 tie, maintaining the Hammers’ perfect record in the competition.
The Guardians were playing at this stage of European football for the first time in their history after only being formed in 1994, but the Cypriot outfit got off to an encouraging start against their Premier League opposition.
AEK put in some dangerous crosses that caused concern for West Ham, especially when Rafael Lopes glanced his header marginally off target after nipping ahead of Michail Antonio to reach Gus Ledes’ corner delivery in the 19th minute.
Manuel Lanzini had the Hammers’ first notable opportunity on the half-hour mark, dragging his shot wide of Kenan Piric’s post. That moment seemingly brought the Hammers to life, as Antonio capitalised on the space he was afforded in AEK’s box to head in Said Benrahma’s pinpoint cross six minutes later, meaning the striker has now scored in Conference League qualifying, group stage and knockout rounds.
AEK didn’t heed that warning as Nenad Tomovic stood off Antonio moments before the break, and the frontman bent a superb strike from outside the box that left Piric rooted on its way into the top corner.
Antonio came agonisingly close to completing a perfect hat-trick moments after the break but his shot hit the post and the ball teasingly trickled across goal.
Both managers made a triple change around the hour mark, and it was West Ham’s tempo that dropped after a period of control. Flynn Downes was shown a yellow that keeps him out of the second leg following a barge on Omri Altman, while Kurt Zouma went unpunished as the Frenchman recovered from an awkward moment in his own box.
There were late chances for both sides with Lucas Paqueta unable to beat Piric after being played through by Maxwel Cornet, while Alphonse Areola saved Ivan Trichkowski’s effort to ensure West Ham earned just the second win in their last seven matches across all competitions and take a commanding lead back to London Stadium.
On the other hand, AEK’s four-game unbeaten run in the tournament was brought to an end, leaving the Guardians facing an uphill battle for the second leg.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Michail Antonio (West Ham United)
Sheriff Tiraspol - Nice 0-1
Unbeaten Nice manager Didier Digard won his first-ever European game as a coach, overcoming a poor Sheriff Tiraspol side to take a slender 1-0 lead back to the Allianz Riviera for the second leg of this tie.
Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol were playing for the first time in the last 16 of a UEFA competition as they hosted inform French side Nice.
Nice had been on an incredible run of form since Digard had taken over as manager in January, unbeaten in nine games since then and clearly playing full of confidence the visitors dominated the early stages of the game albeit without creating any clear-cut chances.
Sheriff’s had struggled in front of goal in Europe so far this season, failing to score in four out of their last five home games and their only threat in the first half was on the counterattack with Hicham Boudaoui going closest when his header went just wide of the post.
Nice dealt a sucker blow to the hosts with the last kick of the first half when Ayoub Amraoui scored a memorable first senior goal by whipping in what first looked like a cross but ended up catching out Maksym Koval and flying into the top corner for 1-0.
Following a very quiet first half, Tiraspol came out after the restart with far more intent, pressing Nice high the field which resulted in some good chances. The best fell to Armel Zohouri who came inches away from scoring his first goal for Sheriff when his wonderfully struck effort came crashing off the bar with less than 20 minutes remaining.
Dante should have put his side in further command of this tie when he rose highest at a corner, powering a header past Koval only to see his effort come off the inside of the post.
Zohouri thought he had given his side a lifeline in the closing moments of the game when he poked the ball into the back of the net, however, it was quickly ruled out for offside, leaving his side the task of turning over a 1-0 deficit in the second leg.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ayoub Amraoui (Nice)
Anderlecht - Villarreal 1-1
Villarreal have it all to do in Spain if they wish to avoid Round of 16 heartbreak in a UEFA competition for the first time since 2014/15 after they were held to a first-leg 1-1 draw by Anderlecht at Lotto Park.
An electric opening half-hour to the first-ever meeting between these two clubs was defined by two key moments, both produced by men reinstated to their respective teams for this Round of 16 first leg.
Benito Raman, brought in by Brian Riemer to expose the Yellow Submarine’s high line, did exactly that with less than five minutes played. The Belgian was expertly slipped in behind by Zeno Debast before firing across Pepe Reina into the bottom left corner, however, the linesman instantly raised his flag to foil Anderlecht.
At the other end of the field, Manu Trigueros - who missed his club’s last two La Liga fixtures due to suspension - would later punish the hosts for not only the earlier offside goal but also their defensive frailties.
Anderlecht’s weak press was easily beaten before Samuel Chukwueze picked out Trigueros at the back post, who had too much time and space to chest down and volley beyond Bart Verbruggen.
This opening goal looked to have set the visitors on their way to a 12th win in their last 18 away matches in all UEFA competitions since the start of the 2020/21 campaign, however, the hosts began the second half in the ascendancy and quickly equalised with class.
Francis Amuzu caught Juan Foyth sleeping on the ball, leaving Villarreal outnumbered as the Ghanaian picked out teammate Anders Dreyer, who set himself before unleashing a wicked strike from distance that swerved past the helpless Reina.
Both teams went in search of the next goal before the full-time whistle was blown, however, to do so would have bucked the trend of nine of Villarreal’s last 10 European knockout matches on away soil, in which under 2.5 goals have been produced.
Gerard Moreno came the closest as a deflected cross fell to his feet in the penalty area, however, he was unable to get a shot away before being crowded out, ultimately setting up a decisive second leg at the Estadio de la Ceramica next week.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Francis Amuzu (Anderlecht)
