DANISH PASTING
West Ham 1 Silkeborg IF 0
Since their first three home PL games of the 2022-23 season, West Ham United have recorded five successive home wins, and if they make it 6/6 tonight they will get a little closer to equalling their best ever recent record run of home victories, 9, recorded between September 1997 and January 1998.
How good was that team? It featured Ferdinand, Lampard, captain Steve Lomas, Hartson, Berkovic, Pearce, Lazaridis and Unsworth.
Ireland’s new midfield general Conor Coventry joins West Ham’s collection of International starters for this evening’s Europa Conference League game.
If they win or draw tonight West Ham will also qualify for the last 16 of the Europa Conference League, the first match of which isn’t until Thursday 9th March next year. It will be handy to miss out on having to play the last 32 round in February for the second successive season.
Silkeborg FC are on a great run themselves having won both of their last Europa Conference League games 5-0, and both against FCSB, who West Ham play next week. They are also after revenge for their 2-3 home defeat in September, a game where West Ham’s new European signings first began to show their class.
The first half, however, offers anything but class, as Hammers find themselves caught out in the last quarter of the pitch for the first twenty minutes. Halfway through the first half, Antonio manages to pounce first on a loose ball in the area and Silkeborg concede a soft penalty as Nicolas Larsen catches him inside the box when he looked unlikely to fashion a chance with the possession. Lanzini steps up to take it and fires home to put the Hammers ahead.
Nayef Aguerd makes his debut, and the £30m 26 year old Moroccan looks an excellent purchase, calm on the ball and lively and accurate with his distribution. Perhaps he will take over the captain’s mantle from Rice, should he depart at the end of the season.
Both Benrahma and Fornals have heading opportunities later in the half, and Fornals should have scored early in the second with only the keeper to beat but he screws his shot wide. Silkeborg have a couple of chances late in the game that Areola saves well, but there’s little to worry Moyes’ side who qualify for the last sixteen after the group stage for a second season in succession. They will again have the luxury of a last group game dead rubber next week, so may send a junior side out to Bucharest for their final group game.
13 Alphonse Areola, 2 Ben Johnson, 5 Vladimir Coufal, 8 Pablo Fornals, 21 Angelo Ogbonna (captain), 27 Nayef Aguerd, 33 Emerson, 10 Manuel Lanzini, 22 Saïd Benrahma, 32 Conor Coventry, 9 Michail Antonio
Substitutes: 7 Gianluca Scamacca, 41 Declan Rice, 28 Tomas Souček, 12 Flynn Downes, 24 Thilo Kehrer
Goalscorer: Manuel Lanzini (penalty)
