West Ham United’s perfect record in the Europa Conference League this season came to an end on Thursday night after drawing 1-1 with Belgian side Gent at the Ghelamco Arena.
Danny Ings’ goal on the stroke of half-time had given the Hammers a lead in the first leg of their quarter-final clash, with Hugo Cuypers levelling the game up in the second half, leaving the scores all squared ahead of next Thursday’s second leg at the London Stadium.
As West Ham will look to seal a place in a European semi-final for a second consecutive season, here are the major talking points from the Hammers’ draw in Belgium.
READ MORE : What Vladimir Coufal told West Ham team-mates about Europa Conference League final
100% record ends but the dream remains
West Ham went into kick-off in the Belgian city of Ghent as the only side with a perfect record in European competitions this season after Bayern Munich’s defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday night.
Weighing up how to manage a seven-day schedule that sees the Hammers face Gent away and home either side of a Premier League clash with Arsenal, Moyes made six changes from the side that won at Fulham last Saturday. He named a half-rotated side featuring the likes of Declan Rice, Vladimir Coufal, Angelo Ogbonna, Jarrod Bowen and Ings.
Although West Ham found some joy via Coufal’s long throws, Gent looked by far the closest to scoring early on, although West Ham’s back three of Ben Johnson, Ogbonna and Nayef Aguerd managed to do enough to shackle the in-form duo of Gift Orban and Hugo Cuypers in the first half.
On one of their few forays forward, West Ham thought they had scored via unlikely circumstances. A Bowen corner was spilt by Gent’s Davy Roef onto Aguerd, and between them, Aguerd bundled the ball home before sheepishly celebrating the goal, perhaps a combination of embarrassment and the knowledge that he had handled the ball in. After a VAR check, the goal was ruled out, but it did give them a late flow of momentum heading towards half-time.
In a lengthy stoppage prior to the break, West Ham won a throw-in on the right side after a Gent clearance. While two Gent players were occupied congratulating each other on the defensive contribution, West Ham saw an opportunity and completely exploited hosts Gent.
Coufal rushed to take a quick throw-in to find an unmarked Bowen, who dashed towards the by-line and passed across the box to find Ings, who netted his first career goal in Europe in a favourable manner, but one where he still needed the nuance to convert.
West Ham’s lead was cut short early in the second half, with Gent’s first half momentum carrying into the second, whilst stepping up a gear in the process.
Gent’s goal came in a move West Ham’s defence will not look back on with much delight. Alessio Castro Montes burst forward from wing-back and exchanged a pass with Orban, through the legs of Ogbonna, before skipping away from Emerson and Aguerd and playing through Cuypers. The Belgian Pro League’s top scorer shuffled to his left side and thundered an effort past Alphonse Areola, and from that point, Gent really had the game by the scruff of the neck.
West Ham did get chances in the immediacy after the leveller, but their free-kicks and crosses were often cleared and the source of Gent’s counters, with Aguerd, Ogbonna and Flynn Downes all forced into last-ditch interventions to give the Buffalos the lead.
With less than 20 minutes remaining, Lucas Paqueta was introduced on his return from a foot issue and in 16 minutes, single-handedly created the same number of chances that his teammates did in 90 minutes combined.
Shortly after coming on, he punched a driven through pass with his right foot to find the run of Bowen racing through on goal. Bowen got his run right, but his finish was all wrong, scuffing well wide and giving Roef nothing to worry about.
Orban, who showed glimpses throughout the night of why he had netted 14 goals in 12 Gent matches since his move from Norway in January prior to kick-off, came close to earning a late lead in sensational fashion, attempting a bicycle kick from just inside the penalty area then he set up himself, denied not by Areola, but by the crossbar.
Paqueta then set up another good chance on a breaking run, flicking to his left to find fellow substitute Michail Antonio, whose side-footed effort found the target, but lacked any kind of pace.
The Brazilian was again involved in the crucial moments as stoppage time played out. After he and Said Benrahma intercepted the ball, Paqueta charged on goal and was bought down by Kamil Piatkowski. Greek referee Tasos Sidiropoulos brandished a red card for Piatkowski and had given the Hammers a free-kick deep into stoppage time. After a VAR check, the red card was rescinded, so was the free-kick, and rightly so, with Piatkowski winning the ball fairly.
West Ham lacked a performance with many performing below par and while it is not a win, West Ham will have been more than content to have returned to east London without a deficit to try and overturn.
The perfect record may be over, but West Ham’s dreams of European trophy are firmly still intact.
Joe Cole’s transfer message
If you had to produce a list of the players who impressed most at the Ghelamco Arena, not many of them were wearing a white West Ham shirt.
Young Nigerian forward Orban caused a number of problems, a fast and direct outlet on the counter attack, not shy of taking players on and with a keen eye for goal.
Although Orban did not get himself on the scoresheet, he certainly impressed and gave West Ham an awful lot to think about, knowing they have the same test to come in six days’ time when the duo meet again at the London Stadium.
Among those delighted with what they saw was former Hammers captain Joe Cole, who was speaking to BT Sport after the draw in Belgium.
In his pre-match analysis, he said that West Ham co-owner David Sullivan should be taking a good look at Orban when the transfer window re-opens this summer, with the 20-year-old recently linked with interest from Leicester City and Leeds United.
"He is one of those players, hunger, he means it," Cole told BT Sport. "His movement was good. There was a couple of raw moments, he’s a 20-year-old player.
"He’s already moved countries recently. He would be one that I would imagine, there will be scouts filling up the director’s box over there in Belgium watching him because he is an outstanding player. If I was David Sullivan and David Moyes, I’d certainly be having a conversation about bringing him in.
"He could be almost like a perfect foil and replacement for Antonio. The sky’s the limit for this guy. Granted, we’ve watched him once, but he really did impress us."
Lucas Paqueta’s cameo
Brazilian Paqueta played for just 16 minutes as he aimed to make an impact on his return from a foot injury that kept him out of last Saturday’s 1-0 win over Fulham.
His last trip to Belgium against Anderlecht in Belgium saw him play just 21 minutes, but he set-up Gianluca Scamacca’s winning goal and produced one of the most impressive pieces of skill produced by any West Ham player in recent years.
Against Gent, he did not have quite the same impact, but did show his creative qualities and will have left many wanting to have seen him much earlier in the tie than the 74th minute.
In his cameo, he put Bowen through on goal with a great pass and teed up Antonio with a late chance, as well as being a perfectly timed Piatkowski tackle away from being either clear through on goal on getting a man sent off for Gent late on.
After the Fulham win, some fans questioned whether West Ham played better without him in the team, but he showed in Belgium that simply was not the case. Compared to the lack of creativity shown by West Ham’s players, Paqueta completely eclipsed them in his short, but promising outing.
Danny Ings’ confidence boost
It was a night to remember for West Ham striker Ings, making only his second start in a European competition and his first since playing for Liverpool in October 2015.
Ings had not scored for the Hammers since his quick-fire double on his full debut in the win over Nottingham Forest in February. He has since been quiet when involved in matches, having limited chances and doing not a lot in games since the win over the Tricky Trees.
Barring winning a couple of fouls, the same could have been said at Gent, although his goal on the stroke of half-time was a true sign of why West Ham spent the money they did on him from Villa three months ago.
Antonio has been preferred to Ings recently, but this game gave Ings a chance to get a goal and gain some confidence. While it was his only chance, and it proved to be a tap-in, he still had to be on alert to react to the reactions of Bowen and Coufal. To his credit, he did exactly that.
Angelo Ogbonna blow
Italian centre-back Ogbonna had earned plenty of plaudits after his role in the London derby win at Fulham six days ago and was one of five players to start in Belgium from that win.
However, Ogbonna is guaranteed to not be involved in the second leg, having been booked for a first half foul on Orban, his third caution in Europe this term.
It comes as a blow with Moyes needing as many of his small squad available to him in this hectic run of fixtures.
On top of that, bookings for Downes and Coufal leave them one booking away from a ban heading into the second leg, while young striker Divin Mubama is also one booking away from a suspension.
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