Europa Conference League late roundup: Slovacko and Koln put on show, West Ham beat Silkeborg
Silkeborg - West Ham
West Ham United maintained their winning start in Group B after coming from behind to beat Silkeborg 3-2 in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The Hammers were back on Scandinavian soil after brushing aside Silkeborg’s fellow Danish rivals Viborg in the play-offs last month, and this time they had an added advantage of having fresher legs on the pitch - albeit a plastic one at JYSK Park.
Despite having a rare week without a game, West Ham may have been feeling a little rusty in the opening stages, as they fell behind in the sixth minute thanks to a magnificent strike from Kasper Kusk from the edge of the area.
Not dismayed, the visitors rolled their sleeves up and managed to hit back when they were controversially awarded a penalty for a push on Maxwel Cornet, with Manuel Lanzini stepping to pull the Hammers level.
A first half turnaround was completed by Gianluca Scamacca, who rifled the ball into the net after being teed up by fellow summer signing Cornet.
David Moyes’ men pulled clear before the break, doubling their advantage through Craig Dawson’s powerful header that proved too hot to handle at the near post.
After an action-packed opening 45 minutes, the second half initially got off to an uneventful start as the hosts sought to find a way back into the contest.
After the hour mark, both sides made a triple change each, with Silkeborg aiming to shake things up, while Moyes likely had one eye on West Ham’s Premier League tussle against his old club Everton this weekend.
Nevertheless, the changes paid off for the home side, who pulled a goal back following a counter-attack, as Soren Tengstedt netted from point-blank range after Alphonse Areola had initially denied a left-footed drive from Tonni Adamsen.
The home fans attempted to push their team on to grab a leveller, but West Ham held on to remain top of Group B, as they clinched four European victories in a row for the first time in their history.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Manuel Lanzini (West Ham United)
See all the match stats on Flashscore.
In Other Fixtures:
On a busy night of action, FC Koln and Slovacko were the pick of the bunch as the German team needed all of their quality to beat the European debutants 4-2.
Everything seemed to be plain sailing for Koln after Sargis Adamyan and Florian Dietz had given them a two-goal cushion at half-time, Slovacko roared back after the break with two goals in three minutes. In the 49th minute, Jan Kalabiska netted from close range and three minutes later they were level through a sumptutious volley from Milan Petrzela - setting the record for the oldest goalscorer in this fledgling competiton in the process. He is 39 for those wondering.
But, that was as close as Slovacko got to a positive result - Dejan Ljubicic was the double soon after to seal the game for the Germans.
The other game in the Group D saw Nice and Partizan Belgrade share the spoils with a 1-1 draw in the Serbian capital.
From Belgrade to Bucharest as FCSB and Anderlecht could not be separated drawing 0-0 in one of the more drab affairs on Thursday night.
Although a point would not have been the result either side were looking for in the same group as West Ham and Silkeborg, Anderlecht will be the happier as they remain unbeaten in this season's competition.
As do Villarreal as they went two wins from two in Group C with a 2-1 victory over Hapoel Beer Sheva. Rotem Hatuel had cancelled out Villarreal's first half penalty from Jose Luis Morales but the Spanish side hit back in quick time through Alex Baena to gift them all three points.
Lech Poznan are Villarreal's closest rivals in the group, after they thrashed Austria Vienna 4-1 in Poland - Kristoffer Velde was on target twice for the hosts.
In Group A, RFS were handily beaten by Scottish side Hearts. Goals either side of the break from Lawrence Shankland and Alan Forrest were enough to give the Edinburgh side a 2-0 victory. The other game in the group saw Istanbul Basaksehir take advantage of the 10 men of Fiorentina to earn a 3-0 win.
