West Ham struggled at times on the artificial turf, eventually taking the win. Soucek off the baseline

The European Conference League continued with more group stage matches and London West Ham played their match. After a poor start, the visitors came away with three points for a narrow 3:2 win on an unconventional pitch with only one Czech, Vladimir Coufal, in the starting line-up.

The clear favourite from England entered the match better, earning the first corner kick in the fourth minute. However, Silkeborg scored from the first attack a minute later. Kasper Kusk sent the Danish team into the lead. The London side had to start trying to turn things around on the artificial turf.

But at the end of the tenth minute, the home team was able to celebrate again. But luckily for West Ham, Tobias Salquist missed the right post. And then came the quick counter. It was defender Salquist who brought down Maxwell Cornet in the box and Manuel Lanzini converted the penalty kick.

The following minutes brought an even game without much action on either side. However, this was broken after exactly 25 minutes by Gianluca Scamacca, who received a pass on the centre of the pitch just outside the box and, after a turn, brilliantly fired the ball under the top bar.

David Moyes’ charges managed to turn the score around in the first half. After another Silkeborg corner kick, an offensive foul was whistled on goalkeeper Areola, but Helenius’ goal should have stood. In fact, the French goalkeeper crashed into a pair battling for a header and no one was stopping him from hitting it.

And so it was West Ham again in the end, Emerson’s attempt still pulled back by goalkeeper Larsen. But the following corner was already behind him in the 38th minute by Craig Dawson. The score was now 3-1 and West Ham looked much better than after the opening ten minutes.

By the end of the half, nothing significant happened, and so it was a two-goal lead for the team from the British Isles going into the booths. In the second half the task was clear for West Ham, to keep the result and go for the three points.

The opening of the second act offered nothing worthy of individual mention to the spectator’s eye. The visiting players controlled the game and did not let the Danish team into any big opportunities. After an hour of play, West Ham’s other Czech, Tomáš Souček, got into the action. He replaced Declan Rice.

In fact, it took until the 72nd minute for the first threat on goal, but the 22-year-old Jørgensen headed over Areola’s goal. Three minutes later, however, a mistake by Bowen created a break which was finished by Soren Tengstedt after the French goalkeeper’s initial shot. The game took an interesting turn at the end.

And it could have been even more fun in Denmark. In the 81st minute, substitute Tonni Adamsen came face to face with Areola, but the West Ham goalkeeper made a crucial save. Silkeborg continued to press and the equaliser hung in the air.

And once again it was the 27-year-old Dane who came close to equalising. At the last moment, he was stopped in his tracks by the West Ham defence. The four-minute set-up was in full swing. And in the end, the visitors held on to the lead and took the three points. Moyes’ charges lead Group B without losing a point.

Source: Sport 1