West Ham vs. Rapid Vienna score: David Moyes’ side looks like Europa League contenders in comprehensive win

LONDON — The sunshine present. The flame cannons. The purple and blue playing cards within the Billy Bonds stand bearing the Irons slogan. It was the kind of night time that West Ham homeowners David Gold and David Sullivan had vowed to make part of the fixture calendar in uprooting the membership from the Boleyn Floor to Stratford. There may be completely no cause to not rejoice this achievement, not least because it had been earned by 38 video games of high-quality soccer by David Moyes’ facet final season.

The sense of event had solely been heightened within the days main as much as kick off because the membership commemorated its most up-to-date and solely European triumph when the boys who would go on to steer England to the World Cup 12 months later received the 1965 Cup Winners’ Cup in entrance of 90,000 followers at Wembley. Martin Peters, Bobby Moore and Sir Geoff Hurst had been immortalized outdoors West Ham’s new dwelling as they had been a number of miles down the street in east London. The latter was on the pitch at halftime.

This was an enormous deal for West Ham.

And but on the pitch this appeared by all accounts to be an especially bizarre night for the West Ham gamers. From kick off onward they set about imposing their gameplan on Speedy Vienna, bullying them within the air and on the deck on their strategy to a 2-0 win.

As had been the case in Zagreb, it was Declan Rice who proved to be West Ham’s match winner. He put the ending flourish on a flowing transfer by way of the Speedy Vienna protection that noticed Andriy Yarmolenko’s delicate chip behind the protection discover Michail Antonio to sq. for the onrushing West Ham vice captain to attain his second aim in as many video games on this competitors.

There have been additional probabilities to kill this sport off for the hosts — Jarrod Bowen fired over after rounding the goalkeeper while Craig Dawson twice went shut from headers — lengthy earlier than Mentioned Benrahma received the aim his efficiency deserved with a sensible sidefoot end in added time. The boisterous Speedy Vienna followers who had made the journey to England had valuable little to cling on to, their solely actual hope of success a penalty that was shortly and accurately overturned by VAR.

Six factors from six with their hardest away journey already within the rearview mirror? This West Ham facet could also be in uncharted waters however their path by way of the Europa League seems to be a serene one.

This competitors ought to carry its difficulties for West Ham. Hankook ingenues they could be however any staff representing the Premier League on the European stage will, by and enormous, discover themselves positioned among the many favorites in whichever match they’re positioned. A quick look on the bookmakers’ odds places these group stage rookies alongside Napoli within the high tier of potential champions. Opponents actually deal with them with a reverence that they don’t face all that constantly within the Premier League.

Speedy Vienna set themselves as much as maintain out for a draw, ceding possession and difficult their hosts to interrupt down slender banks of protection. This isn’t how West Ham wish to play. Underneath Moyes they’ve been their greatest as a counterattacking drive, dropping deep and bursting forth like a coiled spring by way of the likes of Bowen and Benrahma. There was no likelihood the Austrians would permit the latter to do something like that on dwelling turf tonight. Each time the ball got here his approach he was tasked with beating two, maybe extra, white and inexperienced shirts.

He did extra usually than may be anticipated. He was aided by Nikola Vlasic, the nominal quantity 10 who would drift from flank to flank in order to double up on the Vienna full backs. Overlapping down the left the damaging Aaron Cresswell, virtually as efficient from open play as he was over a lifeless ball.

Within the seventh minute he fizzed a free kick from the left onto Rice’s head, the England worldwide glancing the ball onto the far publish. Later within the first half Craig Dawson would hit the opposite publish as he rose excessive to satisfy a Cresswell nook. Any time the ball went close to the West Ham heart again he appeared destined to win the header; he ought to at the very least have hit the goal from one other set piece simply earlier than the interval. Vienna had no reply for Dawson within the air nor for Antonio, who hardly ever got here out something aside from the victor from his duels with Leo Greimi and Kevin Wimmer. 

There was the odd nervy second as the sport approached its climax. Marco Grull appeared to be taking part in for a penalty for the guests within the 72nd minute, tumbling to the deck when Ben Johnson caught a free leg out. Tobias Stieler initially sided with Speedy but it surely solely took a swift VAR referral for that call to be overruled. 

That apart, West Ham saved their opponents at an arm’s size from Alphonse Areola’s aim. The Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper had one save to make, a tame low drive from 30 yards out. His solely trigger for concern may be that if his teammates arrange such a good rearguard forward of him he could have valuable little likelihood to steal Lukasz Fabianski’s beginning spot for Premier League video games.

With out Antonio this facet quite appeared to lack a reference level both for a spell of possession or a counter assault. Bowen pressed with vitality and all the time appeared to be lurking, prepared for a mistake from the guests, however when the prospect got here to kill off the sport he fired over the bar having completed the onerous a part of rounding Paul Gartler. If West Ham have designs to go deep on this competitors a back-up heart ahead needs to be excessive on their checklist come January.

And why should not they aspire to observe within the footsteps of the 1965 staff? While there are spots the place the odd additional physique might assist Moyes was nonetheless capable of relaxation his beginning heart backs, Tomas Soucek and Pablo Fornals while placing out a staff that, on paper and on the sector, was comfortably the higher of its opponents. European soccer is again in east London. It could be right here to remain for some time but.