There’s something special about West Ham when they play here on Thursday nights. A ninth successive home victory in European competition courtesy of a superb goal from Lucas Paquetá gave David Moyes’s side the revenge they craved since losing against Olympiakos last time out and almost sealed their progression from the group stages with two games to spare.
This was far from a vintage performance as West Ham laboured during much of this match but it is mission accomplished for Moyes, who has endured a testing few weeks after the highs of last season and the Europa Conference League triumph.
Moyes had been sufficiently scarred by the defeat in Greece a fortnight ago that he made only three changes from the team that made it four losses from their last five matches in all competitions against Brentford at the weekend. Lukasz Fabianski, Paquetá and Edson Álvarez all returned and Jarrod Bowen led the line.
The large section of visiting fans made themselves heard after arriving well before kick-off and were joined by the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, who opted for the directors’ box instead of behind the goal. Marinakis is expected back here on Sunday to watch his other team – Nottingham Forest – but with defender Angelo Ogbonna having admitted he was “looking forward to showing them our home” in front of a full house, he must have feared Olympiakos may be in for a long night.
West Ham had not been beaten at home in Europe since the semi-final of this competition against Eintracht Frankfurt in April last year. But having seen their 18-match run without defeat ended by Diego Martínez’s side last time out after Moyes rang the changes, there was certainly an incentive to put things right. A curling shot from Saïd Benrahma in the 12th minute that was tipped around the post should have set the tone, with Alexandros Paschalakis grateful that Nayef Aguerd’s header from the resulting corner was directed straight at the Olympiakos goalkeeper.
But the visitors have beaten Arsenal on their two last visits to the capital in 2020 and 2021 in the knockout stages of the Europa League and, despite the best efforts of the graceful Paquetá, they managed to frustrate West Ham for large periods of the first half by slowing the game down. The groans from the home fans that greeted a poor piece of control from Mohammed Kudus on the half-hour mark summed up their struggles. A shimmy on the edge of the area from Benrahma then created space for the Algeria international to shoot but Paschalakis was equal to his effort.
The on-loan Wolves forward Daniel Podence could not direct his shot on target after a quick break down the left flank in the first real opportunity for Olympiakos eight minutes before half-time.
Scoring goals has not been as much of an issue for West Ham so far this season but it is at the other end where they have had problems, with only the Premier League’s bottom four having conceded more. Olympiakos were happy to wait in their deep defensive block and try to pick off their opponents on the break, with the captain, Kostas Fortounis, wasting a promising position at the start of the second half when his cross drifted out of play. The former Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic was withdrawn after an ineffective 55 minutes, although the 34-year-old looked like he did not really mind leaving behind such a low-quality game.
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Bowen, who retained his place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad announced on Thursday, almost inspired the breakthrough when he picked out James Ward-Prowse on the edge of the penalty area. But the former Southampton captain could only hit his shot into the ground and Paschalakis was able to make the save.
It took a piece of brilliance from Paquetá 18 minutes from time to finally settle West Ham’s nerves and seal the points. The Brazilian timed his run to perfection to connect sweetly with Ward-Prowse’s delicate chipped pass and an enormous cheer greeted confirmation that the goal would stand after it had initially been ruled out for offside. The substitute Ayoub el-Arabi almost made Fabianski pay for a handling error late on before Mady Camara struck a post with a volley from a tight angle five minutes from time. But Moyes was able to celebrate as West Ham’s European adventure rolls on.
