After going behind to Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s KAA Gent side when Hugo Cuypers slotted home his second goal of the tie in the 26th minute, there was a moment of mild panic at the London Stadium as Hammers fans considered the possibility of a disappointing early exit from a tournament they are favourites to win. David Moyes’ side soon proved there was little need for such concern though as West Ham roared back to a 4-1 win on the night and a 5-2 win on aggregate that made the tie look far more comfortable than it had really been for 135 of the 180 minutes. This victory takes Moyes’ side through to their second consecutive European semi-final and the Scot will be hoping that the lessons learned from last year’s defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt at this stage will help guide his team past AZ Alkmaar to the final in Prague.
Alphonse Areola – 6
Nothing to do.
Vladimír Coufal – 7
Coufal continued his good form in a quieter showing which peaked with a delightful dead ball delivery for Kurt Zouma in the 14th minute. Covered well to nullify counters.
Kurt Zouma – 6
Aside from his miss from the aforementioned chance, Zouma was imperious in the air and made it incredibly difficult for Gent to launch balls forward and be direct in their play. But much like his performance against Fulham, where he was brilliant in the air but a little mistake prone when stepping out of the backline, the Frenchman made two silly errors in the first half that he was fortunate to get away with. The first came when his momentum took him in the wrong direction and allowed Cuypers in at the back post for a huge missed opportunity in the eighth minute and the second arrived 20 minutes later when he stepped out to press Hong Hyun-seok and left a gaping hole for Cuypers to race through – the striker was incorrectly flagged offside after his cross was cut out by Nayef Aguerd. Mistakes like this would be punished by stronger opposition.
Nayef Aguerd – 8
After a poor performance in the first leg, Aguerd recovered and put in a much stronger display last night. The Moroccan may have been slightly at fault when he left Cuypers to drop back onto the line for the goal but he impressed outside of that moment with some strong covering defending to stop dangerous counters or balls in behind and confident play when under pressure in build-up moments. The highlight of his performance came when he blocked a Cupyers pass to Gift Orban on another promising counter before passing straight into Lucas Paquetá who immediately set Michail Antonio away for the fourth goal.
Emerson Palmieri – 8
After a middling first half where Emerson had defended well in aerial duels but offered little going forward, the Italian put in a brilliant second half showing with far more intensity to step out and win his duels defensively and support the forwards. His back-to-back tackles and neat pass to Saïd Benrahma set up the attack that led to Tomáš Souček’s huge chance just after half-time.
Tomáš Souček – 7
Souček stood out in the first half while West Ham struggled to take control of the match as the Czech midfielder stepped in well to recover possession repeatedly in the middle of the pitch. Typically though, as the team performance improved and the Hammers took more control of the game, Souček soon looked like the lowest impact player in an otherwise strong midfield. He probably should’ve scored (even though he was really stretching to get to it) when he met Bowen’s cutback at the back post in the 49th minute but he deserves credit for winning the defensive header and picking up the loose ball twice to set the team away on the move that eventually led to the equaliser.
Declan Rice – 9
Up until he equaliser, Rice wasn’t at his best as he mixed the usual quality with a few simple misplaced passes and a little reluctance to play through in build-up – everything afterwards was incredible. His run for the goal was outstanding as he won possession, carried upfield, and turned Joseph Okumu inside out before slotting past Davy Roef.
Jarrod Bowen – 7
Had he put away half of the chances he managed to fashion for himself, this would have been an easy 10 but Bowen somehow managed to finish the game without scoring. Excellent energy out of possession and a constant threat down the right. One neat assist for Antonio and another fantastic chance generated for Souček. Top performance with some sub-par finishing.
Lucas Paquetá – 9
Not for the first time this season, a casual moment from Paquetá caused West Ham a massive problem in defence and this was impressive even by his standards as he passed the ball directly to Hong and wandered back at a pace that inexcusably allowed Orban to get the ball into the box to provide the opener. But this had come after a sharp start to the match with neat early passes for Bowen and Benrahma and the Brazilian continued to impress after his mistake with more positive combination play and excellent patience to draw pressure before releasing others. He burst into life properly in the second half when he displayed wonderful control to release Bowen for Souček’s missed opportunity before nicking the ball from Benrahma to put away the penalty that completely shifted the game. Then there was a neat assist for the fourth before the showboating began late on with flicks, tricks, and defence-splitting passes to play both Emerson and Cornet through. His best performance in a West Ham shirt by a mile.
Saïd Benrahma – 6
Someone needs to stop Benrahma from crossing with his right foot because the Algerian spent the first half an hour or so hitting the first man or sending the ball straight out of play for a goal kick. This wasn’t Benrahma’s best game as he gave up possession a little too easily on too many occasions but it was his movement that drew Piątkowski away to provide the fourth goal and he had some really neat combinations with Paquetá throughout the match too. One lovely dribble and cutback to play Emerson in as well. I’d write “If he can tighten it up a bit and cut out some of the weak duels, ball losses, and poor crosses we’ll be in business” but I fear that ship has sailed.
Michail Antonio – 8
Antonio performed brilliantly against Arsenal on Sunday and he was a constant threat again last night. He took both of his goals exquisitely and it was his sensational movement that ruined Gent’s centre-backs momentum for Rice’s goal. I’d usually talk more about a player’s performance in the round but please watch that goal back again and stop looking at Rice. Look at Antonio and his run inside to send the defenders moving towards the ball at too much pace before his surge back on the outside to draw Fortuna away and out of the situation. It’s so good. Too good. I love him.
Thilo Kehrer – 6
The game was won by the time the subs came on. No major impact.
Flynn Downes – 5
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Danny Ings – 5
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Pablo Fornals, Maxwel Cornet – N/A
