West Ham United are closing in on a place in the knockout rounds of the Europa Conference League after recording a 1-0 victory over Anderlecht on Thursday night.
Substitute Gianluca Scamacca was on hand with his fourth goal in five appearances in the competition this season at Lotto Park, moving the Hammers five points clear at the top of Group B with three games to go in this season’s group stage.
As David Moyes’ side took a major step in qualifying for the knockout rounds of the competition, here are the talking points from a memorable night in Brussels.
READ MORE: Every word West Ham’s David Moyes said on Anderlecht win, Gianluca Scamacca and Flynn Downes
Closing in on the last 16
After the game, Moyes stated that one of his current priorities is to still be in the Europa Conference League when it moves to the knockout phase after Christmas. The Scot has almost got his wish, with three matches to go.
With Silkeborg earning a shock 5-0 win over FCSB in Group B’s other game on Matchday 3, West Ham have a five-point lead over second-place Anderlecht and could extend that advantage to eight points next week when the two sides meet again in the London Stadium.
Neither the Hammers or Anderlecht have had great starts in their respective league campaigns, but in Europe, it was always expected that the group would be won by one of these two teams.
With the top spot earning a place in the last 16 and second having to go through a play-off against a side that finished third in their Europa League group, both logistically and financially, it works in West Ham’s favour to win the group, something that they may well secure next week if they win against and Silkeborg fail to win in Bucharest.
As far as the group goes, it has been almost perfect for the Hammers. Three wins, seven goals scored and a very healthy advantage going into their last three games. It would take some doing to not win the group from this position.
Needing the big guns to step up
Moyes made nine changes from the side that won 2-0 against Wolverhampton Wanderers six days ago and while Maxwel Cornet’s absence was injury enforced, the other eight were all calls made by Moyes, who shuffled the pack as he often has done in Europe this term.
While it was still a good side on the pitch, with the game goalless with 20 minutes to go, Moyes made a triple substitution and bought captain Declan Rice, potential future club record signing Lucas Paqueta and Italian striker Scamacca to change the game, replacing Manuel Lanzini, Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio respectively.
All three made an instant impact, Rice in possession allowed those around him to thrive going forward on the counter attack, Paqueta’s flair unpicked locks in Anderlecht’s back line and Scamacca stretched a defence who had limited Antonio’s chances before coming off.
All three were involved in the goal. Rice’s long pass found Vladimir Coufal, who got it Paqueta before the Brazilian cleverly dinked it to Scamacca, whose touch and finish from a tough angle on the half turn was something that most of the Premier League’s top strikers would have been pleased with.
Rice has a massive price tag on him, while Scamacca (£30.5million, up to £35.5m in add-ons) and Paqueta (£36.7m, up to £52.6m in add-ons) both cost the club big money in the summer. However, with more link-ups and quality moments like that, the near £90m (if full add-ons are paid) duo proved exactly why the Hammers signed them this summer.
Flynn Downes’ performance
There was a second start in West Ham colours for Flynn Downes and the midfielder was excellent for the team he has supported all his life.
The Brentwood boy and Hammers fan impressed in all areas of the pitch. He ranked second for tackles won, joint-second for interceptions, third for passes completed and won ten of his 15 duels, a performance proving again why the club saw potential in him to grow.
Of course, Downes is still getting used to life at West Ham and it was only his second start in Claret and Blue, but his performance impressed fans and Moyes alike, a step towards a potential full Premier League debut.
Downes was signed with a view of a longer-term project around his development. With performances like that on a consistent basis, using this and other cup competitions as a platform to impress, he will get closer to knocking on the door for a first league start, especially with the amount of games to come in all competitions this season.
Said Benrahma’s missed opportunity
On a night mainly of positives, one negative was the performance of Said Benrahma, who really could have made the tie much easier for his side in the first half.
Having had two earlier chances to score in the first half, when tame effort saved and another curling shot headed away, he was gifted a guilt-edge chance when Jarrod Bowen cut the ball back to him at the end of a superb run. Instead of burying it into the net, when it seemed easier to score, Benrahma found quite a high row of the stand behind the goal with his shot.
He was one of the three men taken off in the triple substitution that swung the game in favour of the Hammers and ultimately led to Moyes’ side picking up the win and even though Cornet is currently injured, it seems Pablo Fornals is well ahead of him in the pecking order to keep the spot at left wing.
Moyes after the game called on Benrahma to become more clinical and while says he rates the winger highly, he has take more of the chances he gets in order to get more minutes. Being in the right place and getting shots off is not the issue, accuracy however is.
Defensive solidarity
For only the second time so far this season in all competitions, the Hammers kept back-to-back clean sheets and did have to work in doing so.
In a formation change that saw Coufal and Emerson start wide of a back three of Ben Johnson, Craig Dawson and Angelo Ogbonna.
Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola did not make too many saves, but denied Yari Verschaeren from range before Fabio Silva’s late header from close range saw Areola get low and tip it away expertly.
Johnson, playing for the first time in almost six weeks after a hamstring issue, was excellent, making three clearances, an interception, winning three fouls and winning seven of his nine duels. Dawson made twice as many clearances as any other player on the pitch, while Silva’s best chances were often cut out by Ogbonna, with the Italian stand-in captain topping the table for blocks made.
Even though Johnson and Ogbonna are not currently in Moyes’ best defence, having those options at his disposal is only a massive boost, with a similar defensive line likely to be used for the return clash against Anderlecht next week.
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