A late Tomáš Souček own-goal meant West Ham United had to settle for a draw following two wonderful Saïd Benrahma goals to give them the lead on manager David Moyes’ 1000th game in management. The Belgian side have made it out of their group on the last four occasions, but are now up against it to repeat the feat this time around.
The ‘Hammers’ came into the game on track to become the first side to ever go through an entire group stage without conceding a goal. That potential record was decimated in the 3rd minute when a central through ball from Junya Ito sliced open the ‘Hammers’ makeshift defence and found Joseph Paintsil who stroked home beyond the reach of deputising Alphonse Areola, who perhaps should have done better. It had been over seven hours of football since the London side last went behind.
Genk have conceded more set piece goals (four) than any other in the UEFA Europa League (UEL) and they were almost caught out again midway through the first half when Martin Dawson put a free header straight into the arms of Maarten Vandevoordt.
A triple substitution on the 55th minute mark clearly signalled Moyes’ intentions and a few minutes later a Benrahma shot from the edge of the box went through Vandevoordt’s legs to draw them level following a classy move. The same man put West Ham 2-1 up with another piece of mastery, his magic feet dazzled the Genk defence and he found the finish to match and send the away fans into raptures. However, celebrations were dampened for the visitors when Tomáš Souček’s 87th minute unfortunate own-goal leveled matters for the hosts in a pulsating encounter.
Despite conceding late on, the point still near enough guarantees West Ham progression after only four games. Genk on the other hand now have an eight-game winless streak at home in European competition, and are yet to defeat English opposition in their history.
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