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West Ham United player ratings in Conference League showdown v Viborg
West Ham United took on Danish side Viborg on Thursday evening as they looked to put one foot in the group stage of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
David Moyes was in the stands for this one starting his European touchline ban, but named a strong side with the likes of Maxwel Cornet and Gianluca Scamacca getting their first starts.
Those two combined early on for the Italian to head home, with Jarrod Bowen doubling the lead with a brilliant drive from distance. Viborg then made it a nervous end before Michail Antonio tapped home in the 3-1 win.
West Ham Zone rated the players out of 10 below…
Alphonse Areola – 7
The Frenchman had very little to do in terms of saves (pulling off one great reflex stop) but was always alert to make sure that through balls were swept up with ease by being on his toes constantly – nothing he could do about the goal.
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Harrison Ashby – 6
A solid enough night for the young right-back, who did well going forward but was caught out on the counter a few times – something that would lead to much more danger in the Premier League.
Angelo Ogbonna – 7
How we have missed this man. Moyes will have been delighted in the stands to see the Italian get through unscathed and he did his job superbly against the physical Jay-Roy Grot.
Ben Johnson – 4
Please let this experiment end. The young full-back can not play centrally, and although it has been forced, this performance should fully end this plan with Thilo Kehrer now ready to step in and take over.
Vladimir Coufal – 6
The Czech international was forced to move to the left and did well enough. One negative would have been how easy it was to head home the consolation for Viborg as he was bullied at the back post.
Conor Coventry – 7
Busy. Coventry covered a lot of ground this evening, and he was forced to with Soucek doing little alongside him in each third. Without doing anything spectacular, he did his job well enough to avoid the headlines.
Tomas Soucek – 5
A night where it simply passed him by. Viborg worryingly dominated possession for large periods of the game in each half, and it was mainly due to the lack of presence in midfield – Declan Rice will change that.
Manuel Lanzini – 4
Hacked off at half-time, that summed up the evening for the South American. Pablo Fornals came on and was much busier initially, with his attacking play as well as his pressing much better – that must change.
Maxwel Cornet – 7
Bright from the new signing. The Ivorian international was silky with his skill and put in plenty of work, crafting the opener for Scamacca with beautiful skill and cross to the back post – more of this, please.
Jarrod Bowen – 8
As was the case plenty of times last season, Bowen was the man to make most things happen as he took matters into his own hands to smash home the second. Without that goal, before he went off, the nervous end would have been made even worst.
Gianluca Scamacca – 7
We are starting to see more and more from the big–money signing of the summer, with his dominating header a sign of things to come hopefully moving forward. There is still some rustiness though with his hold-up play needing work, it will come.
West Ham United substitutes – Said Benrahma – 8, Michail Antonio – 7, Pablo Fornals – 7, Thilo Kehrer – 7