The domination continued in the second half. De Oliveira saw an effort tipped round the post, then came closest to scoring with a blistering strike that skimmed the top of the bar. At the other end, Hammers keeper Claysson De Lima had little to do, as Villarreal retreated further back and appeared content to play out for Target Score Time.
Nilton De Andrade almost snatched a winner when he won possession on the edge of the Villarreal box, but saw his effort smothered by the keeper, while striker Devin Vega tried his hardest to find a pocket of space with some trickery and pace late on, but still couldn’t find the decisive breakthrough before the end of normal time, leaving a sudden-death scenario of a Target Score of one goal.
After three minutes, each team had a player withdrawn to leave it 6v6, and just moments later Sánchez struck the winner after a corner was floated in from the left, leaving the Hammers crestfallen and in need of a big performance on Thursday to keep the TST dream alive.
Starting VII: De Lima, Palmer ©, Thetsane, De Andrade, Vega, Stinson, Marques
Subs: Orozco (GK), Ferdinand, Collins, Pereira, Palmer, Sousa, De Oliveira, Anderaos, Mo Ali, Fiennes Tiffin, Vaz Tê, Zárate, Rahul KP