A brace from Diafra Sakho has given West Ham United a deserved lead over Andorran minnows Lusitanos in their Europa League qualifier at Upton Park.
The Hammers started on the front foot and created their first goalscoring opportunity in the second minute after the Senegalese international latched on to a knockdown on the edge of the box and shot wide.
Sakho threatened again five minutes later when he rose high to meet Morgan Amalfitano's cross, but was beaten in the air by Lusitanos goalkeeper Gerardo.
Amalfitano was next to try his luck, taking a Matt Jarvis cross on the volley and making the side-netting ripple on 17 minutes.
West Ham piled on the pressure in the latter stages of the first half, with Sakho heading over from six yards out on the half-hour mark and Reece Burke having a header cleared off the line moments later.
It looked like a matter of time before the deadlock would be broken, and it was the Senegal forward who netted the opening goal, heading home a cross from strike partner Mauro Zarate with five minutes of the first half remaining.
He helped himself to a deserved second two minutes into first-half stoppage time, tapping in a simple cut-back from Zarate to make it 2-0 and put the Hammers in the driving seat.
Mark Langshaw
