Sporting travelled to the London Stadium on Thursday night to take on the Hammers in the fourth round of the UEFA Conference League. Felice Mazzù fielded a four-man defence with Amir Murillo, Zeno Debast, Hannes Delcroix and Moussa N'Diaye. Sebastiano Esposito and Fábio Esposito started side by side up front. Sporting lost the match 2-1.
West Ham opened the scoring after 15 minutes of play through Saïd Benrahma, whose free kick gave Hendrik Van Crombrugge no chance. Anderlecht replied through Fábio Silva, but his shot easily saved by Alphonse Areola. The Irons doubled their lead on the half-hour mark with a shot by Jarrod Bowen. Yari Verschaeren had two more chances, but the first half was clearly English.
In the second half, a deflected shot by Emerson Palmieri went only just wide. Moments later, Moussa N'Diaye had to intervene on a shot by Pablo Fornals. After an hour, Amadou Diawara, Francis Amuzu and Yari Verschaeren were replaced by Noah Sadiki, Mario Stroeykens and Jan Vertonghen. Hannes Delcroix and Fábio Silva were replaced moments later by Wesley Hoedt and 17-year-old Lucas Stassin, making his first official minutes for the Mauves. Sebastiano Esposito managed to moderate the score on penalty in the closing stages.
Due to the loss and Silkeborg's big win against FCSB (0-5), Sporting will need to win its next home game at home against the Romanians to still have a chance of going through to the next round in its last match.
More photos
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Line-up West Ham United |
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Line-up RSC Anderlecht |
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