Jarrod Bowen has now scored six European goals for West Ham
(Picture: Getty Images)West Ham secured safe passing into the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League with what proved to be a nervy X win over Anderlecht.
Such was the level of investment in the squad over the course of the summer, David Moyes was again afforded the luxury of shuffling his pack before Sunday’s trip to Southampton while putting Thursday’s visitors to the sword.
Operating without a striker in the absence of Michail Antonio and Moyes’ decision to rest the in-form Gianluca Scamacca, West Ham’s varied frontline proved too much for Anderlecht’s really rather static defence.
Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen were deployed as split strikers, creating space for the excellent Lucas Paqueta and the home side largely toyed with their opposition.
The Algerian hit a dipping free-kick to open the scoring in brilliant fashion just after the 15-minute mark before Bowen equalled a club record by bagging his sixth European goal with a thumping finish inside the box after controlling Emerson Palmieri’s fizzing drag-back to send the Hammers into a commanding position at the break.
Injuries were the only worries heading into the second-half, with Angelo Ogbonna limping off in the first. The Italian’s replacement, Craig Dawson, suffered a similar fate after the interval following a collision with teammate Flynn Downes, who again put in a composed performance.
Clearly, the prospect of missing two defenders is a blow but it did not have any material impact on the performance until its dying embers. The second-half was played almost exclusively in Anderlecht’s half until Ben Johnson’s late foul on Sebastiano Esposito, who duly converted from the spot.
That made things far more nervy than they needed to be and six minutes of injury time felt like a lifetime but the home side were good value for their win.
For many, the Thursday-Sunday schedule proves arduous, though West Ham appear to have used momentum gained on the continental stage to kickstart their Premier League campaign. While the group is not won yet, a victory over Silkeborg next week will ensure they avoid two extra games in the Conference League after the World Cup.
