Dinamo Zagreb beats West Ham to reach Europa League knockout stage

Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb have beaten West Ham 1-0 in London on Thursday night in the final group match of the UEFA Europa League. 

Tonight’s win means Dinamo finished second in Group H with 10 points, three points group winners West Ham. The top two teams in the group advance through to the knockout stage.

A wonder goal from Croatian International Mislav Oršić from outside the box in just the third minute gave the visitors the early lead on a cold, wet London night. 

Having already won the group, David Moyes started a number of youngsters and Dinamo’s experience on the park showed as they looked most likely to double their lead when Arijan Ademi and Luka Ivanušec both went close. 

Golazo vs West Ham ✅

💫 Mislav Oršić 💫#UEL https://t.co/GkzQvRgLld pic.twitter.com/VSK9mGaQn1

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) December 9, 2021

West Ham looked more dangerous in the second half as the heavy rain started to fall, but Dinamo managed to hang on for an important victory and move into the knockout round play-offs.

In the draw for the knockout round play-offs, the eight group runners-up are seeded, and the eight Champions League group third-placed teams are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other. 

Dinamo Zagreb will be unseeded for draw which takes place on 13 December 2021. 

The first legs of the knockout phase will be played on 17 February, and the second legs will be played on 24 February 2022.

The winners on aggregate will then advance to the last 16 of the Europe League.