West Ham United took a big step towards qualifying for the Europa Conference League’s knockout rounds on Thursday night with a 1-0 win over Anderlecht.
A fourth goal of the season in this competition for substitute Gianluca Scamacca was enough to earn David Moyes’ side three points at Lotto Park, moving the Hammers five points clear at the top of Group B at the halfway point.
After Sunday’s London derby against Fulham, the Irons play host to their Belgian opponents again next Thursday and a win could not just seal a top two spot in the group, but it may also seal top spot, which would earn them qualification into the Round of 16.
READ MORE: Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paqueta justify summer price tags in West Ham’s Anderlecht win
In the Europa Conference League, top spot in each group qualifies for the last 16 stage, with second place in each group going into a play-off knockout round tie against a third-place Europa League side, with the winners joining the group winners in the last 16.
For West Ham, they can mathematically win Group B next week if they win against Anderlecht, but they also need a result to go their way to seal their fate with two games to spare.
In the other Group B match, Romanian side FCSB play host to Danish outfit Silkeborg. To win the group, West Ham must win and hope that FCSB avoid defeat, either by winning or drawing. However, this may be a tough task, with Silkeborg earning a 5-0 win over FCSB on Thursday night.
West Ham have so far won all five matches in this competition this term, beating Viborg twice in the play-off qualifying round before Group B wins over FCSB, Silkeborg and Anderlecht. Across those five games, they have scored 14 goals, four of which coming from summer signing Scamacca.
While it seems unlikely that the Hammers will not qualify for the knockout rounds and as group winners, Moyes’ priority is currently on being in the competition after Christmas.
“We want to do a job and I want to be in Europe after Christmas time, that is the first thing,” Moyes said after beating Anderlecht.
“We’ve put ourselves in a pretty good position at the moment, but obviously we’ve still got three games to go and we have to try and probably get another win at least to get a chance of qualifying.”
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