Anderlecht under the hammer as West Ham take over; Super Silky Silkeborg

By Samindra Kunti in Brussels

October 8 – West Ham United second team beat Anderlecht 1-0 to maintain a perfect Conference League record and cement their lead at the top of Group B.

David Moyes largely fielded a reserve squad with Declan Rice, Lucas Paqueta and Tomas Soucek among those rested. It allowed Anderlecht, without the sick Jan Vertonghen, to face the Hammers in the first 30 minutes with Yari Verschaeren, deployed as a striker, testing Alphonse Areola with a firm strike in the 23rd minute.

The English responded, although not precisely in the way they would have liked when Said Benrahma missed a keeper in the 40th minute.

In the second half, Moyes provided fresh legs with Paqueta, Rice and Gianluca Sacamacca in the 70th minute and it proved enough for the win and three points as Paqueta put Sacamacca inside the box for a simple finish in the 79th minute. Once at Wolverhampton, Fabio Silva's blistering header was just about too close to Areola to find an equaliser.

"I expected Anderlecht to be a tough game," West Ham United manager David Moyes said.

"I have to say we found Silkeborg a tough opponent, Steaua Bucharest a bit of a change where they are. We want to do a job and I want to be in Europe after Christmas, that's the first thing. We we've put ourselves in a pretty good position at the moment, but obviously we have three more games to go and we have to try and probably get another win at least to have a chance of qualifying."

In the other group match, Danes Silkeborg beat Romania's FCSB 5-0 to score their first points in Conference League Group B. West Ham United remain top with nine points and host Anderlecht at the Olympic Stadium next week in the second leg.

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