West Ham 4 KAA Gent 1
Areola:6 With the exception of the goal Areola really had very little to do
Coufal:7 Involved in a very nasty clash of heads. Recovered well and defended resolutely.
Zouma:9 Lofted a free header on well over the bar on 14 mins. Won so many headers all over the pitch. Outstanding.
Aguerd:7 Could have done better for Gent’s opener as he left his man unmarked to cover the goal line. Demonstrated impressive pace to match Oban in a race. Very calm despite being pressed constantly.
Emerson:7 Much like Benrahma, Emerson seemed to waste the ball frequently which saw a number of Gent counter attacks come from West Ham’s left side in the first half. Won a corner with a decent shot. More intensity from Emerson in the second half. Epitomised the team’s improvement in the second half.
Rice:10 Started with high intensity immediately winning tackles. Rice was a real driving force for all of the game. Scored a career defining goal which will be played repeatedly forever. This will go down as one of the iconic Hammers goals.
Soucek:6 A passenger for much of the game but made a few important tackles. Missed an open goal from 5 yards out but maybe he was stretching?
Paqueta:9 Some of his play at the beginning of the game was exquisite. Unfortunately he gave the ball away in front of his defenders and Gent scored the opener as a result. From villain to hero and Paqueta scored a wonderful penalty following the standard VAR drama. Showed off some of the samba magic with his full repertoire of skills.
Bowen:8 Very well marked and completely unable to impact in open play during the first half. Won a foul then produced a wonderful delivery from the resulting free-kick. Threatened from open play after the break and forced a great save from the Gent goalkeeper. Unlucky to have a goal ruled out by VAR.
Benrahma:6 Very wasteful with his passes and crosses at times. Incredibly frustrating to watch with so many good opportunities wasted, had a broken radar. Much improved at the beginning of the second half and set up Bowen well.
Antonio:9 Antonio was marshalled well by the Gent defenders who coped well with his physicality. Struggled with his hold-up play early in the game despite some great passes from Paqueta. Reacted incredibly quickly to deflect Bowen’s corner with a deft header. Hit the post early in the second half. Scored West Ham’s 4th (yes, you did read that correctly) as he cut in from the left following Paqueta’s pass and thundered in an 18 yard howitzer.
Kehrer: Replaced Zouma as part of a triple substitution on the 69th min.
Downes: On for Rice.
Ings: Replaced Antonio.
Cornet: 78th min replacement for Bowen
Fornals: Replaced Benrahma