With West Ham United manager David Moyes making 11 changes to the side which beat Chelsea on Saturday, the visitors knew they had a chance to impose themselves from the off. They did just that, with Oršić giving ‘Modri’ an early lead when his shot, five yards from the left corner of the penalty area, flew past Alphonse Areola and into the top right corner to the surprise of everyone at the London Stadium.
Five ‘Hammers’ players were making their European debuts, and two of them combined when Harrison Ashby crossed to Sonny Perkins, but the striker could only head over the crossbar. The Croatian side should have added to their lead before the interval, with Arijan Ademi heading off target from close range and Luka Ivanušec curling a shot over the bar from just inside the area.
With both teams already assured of their place in the next round of the competition – West Ham will advance to the Round of 16, while Dinamo Zagreb will compete in the knockout round playoffs – the game understandably lacked an edge, although Ivanušec went close when his well-struck effort was pushed away by Łukasz Fabiański.
With lots of young players keen to show their capabilities, the ‘Hammers’ tried their best to put on a show for a healthy home crowd, but they struggled to craft many chances going forward, having just two shots on target in the 90 minutes.
West Ham must now wait until February 25 to discover their Round of 16 opponents, while Dinamo Zagreb will learn their playoff fate on December 13.
