West Ham lost 2-1 to Greek powerhouse Olympiacos in the UEFA Europa League, handing the Hammers their first loss in Europe in 17 matches. The Premier League team had a mountain to climb after Angelo Ogbonna’s error gifted the home team the lead goal through Kostas Fortounis. For the visitors, Lucas Paqueta pulled one back, but in the end, it was too little, too late.
Olympiacos defeated West Ham United 2-1 in their UEFA Europa League Group A match, handing the Hammers their first European loss in 17 matches.
Kostas Fortounis appeared with a magical moment in the 33rd minute of a game that lacked any true quality. After receiving the ball in a central position and dodging a few West Ham defenders, the Olympiacos captain tried a shot from about 25 yards out that went past Alphonse Areola.
Olympiacos continued to push, sensing they could get a second before half-time and they did exactly that thanks to a large slice of luck. Rodinei fired in a hopeful ball from the right-hand side and Angelo Ogbonna got his clearance all wrong, slicing the ball into the back of the net past Areola.
David Moyes made a triple change just before the hour mark, bringing on Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio in the hopes of getting West Ham back into the game.
The Hammers continued to struggle to find their rhythm, and the more they pushed forward in search of pulling one back the more susceptible they looked to conceding a third. Fortounis and Daniel Podence began to find themselves in more and more space as the game went on as West Ham decided to roll the dice.
Sotiris Alexandropoulos had a big chance to make it 3-0 with 10 minutes to go, finding space in the box before firing a vicious effort on target which was saved well by Areola.
Paqueta halved the deficit for his side after 86 minutes, smashing home a terrific strike on the volley but it was too little too late for The Hammers.
TALKING POINT – A BUMP IN THE ROAD, BUT QUALIFICATION IN HAMMERS’ HANDS
David Moyes will be bitterly disappointed with his side’s performance in Piraeus, despite the late fightback sparked by Lucas Paqueta’s wonderful strike. The Hammers just couldn’t get going in a Karaiskakis Stadium that had a ferocious atmosphere from minute one.
It’s important that West Ham do not mull for too long over this result though, they are still in a terrific position, level at the top of Group A with Freiburg with six points each and with three more games still to play. Another reason for West Ham to not let this result sit with them for too long is that next up in the competition is Olympiacos – this time at the London Stadium.
With the Freiburg away match and the Olympiacos away match now both played, West Ham can look forward to two of their last three Europa League matches being at home and will be hoping they can count on their supporters to help them into the knockout stages of the competition.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH – KOSTAS FORTOUNIS (OLYMPIACOS)
For his team, Olympiacos’ captain was extraordinary. The 31-year-old Greece international was involved in almost all of Olympiacos’ successful endeavors. Although the hosts took the lead thanks to his incredible goal in minute 33, his overall effort was even more noteworthy. He had excellent passing, especially long passing (6/8 long passes completed), which helped move the ball from side to side and frequently released players like Daniel Podence, Ayoub El Kaabi, and Sotiris Alexandropoulous into space. An very outstanding performance.
