West Ham United player ratings v Silkeborg: Magnificent Maxwel Cornet
West Ham United cruised to victory away at Silkeborg to secure their second successive win in the Europa Conference League group stage.
Silkeborg took a shock lead just five minutes into the game as Kasper Kusk was found on the edge of the area and he coolly side-footed the ball into the opposite corner.
West Ham were soon awarded a penalty though as Maxwel Cornet was fouled as he lined up a shot and Manuel Lanzini stepped up to power home the spot-kick.
Gianluca Scamacca then turned the game around on 25 minutes with a powerful strike from the edge of the area after a poor pass from the Danish side before Craig Dawson added a third late on in the first half from a corner.
A nervy last 15 minutes was in store though as Soren Tengstedt pulled the game back to 3-2 but the Irons hung on and here are our player ratings from tonight’s clash.
Alphonse Areola – 6
The Frenchman had very little to do all evening but still managed to concede early on, even if there was little he could do about it in truth and the same can be said of the second but he did make a good stop at 3-2 to keep West Ham in front.
Vladimir Coufal – 4
The Czech Republic international is struggling to find some serious form at the moment with the goal once again coming from a cross on his side of the pitch. He really needs to work on his defending if he wants to maintain his spot in the side before teams start to target him in the future.
Craig Dawson – 6
Dawson was finally back after a long time out injured and you could tell that this was his first game in a while. He dropped off too far for the opening goal of the night to allow Kusk plenty of room but he was fairly untroubled after that and a goal was a good reward for his stellar form last season if nothing else.
Thilo Kehrer – 6
It is always very hard to judge the defenders when they have so little defending to do for the majority of the game. Kehrer perhaps could have found a way to block Kusk’s opening goal but other than that, it was all simple passes to the midfield and full-backs. Easy.
Aaron Cresswell – 8
Classic Cresswell in terms of set-piece delivery for Dawson’s bullet header and he was smooth as silk on the ball too. Rarely troubled defensively and played some clever forward passes in open play to complete a very accomplished evening’s work.
Emerson Palmieri – 6
The Brazilian seemed to be asked to play much higher than he has done before at West Ham and you could tell he wasn’t entirely comfortable in doing so but having said that he was alright on the night with some good moments and some less so but that’s to be expected of someone who is still new to the team.
Declan Rice – 7
When is Rice not at least a seven out of ten these days? Once again, the captain proved why Gareth Southgate has selected him for England’s upcoming Nations League games by completely controlling the midfield battle as he looks more and more like a Rolls Royce with every game.
Manuel Lanzini – 7
Scoring a penalty won’t bump Lanzini’s rating up whatsoever but he was still very good in attacking midfield as he drifted into really good positions to receive the ball and then pop it off to another teammate. His forward running was exhilarating too, driving towards a low block.
Lucas Paqueta – 7
Without being the standout superstar everyone is expecting him to be, Paqueta had a quietly impressive evening in Denmark with a number of intelligent runs and some neat, intricate passing to boot. Still some way from his best but he is getting there and it won’t be long before he astonishes West Ham fans everywhere.
Maxwel Cornet – 9 (Man of the Match)
Cornet hadn’t set the world alight before tonight but he finally showed what he is all about in Denmark with a sensational display. Silkeborg could not keep him quiet all evening as the Ivorian danced his way around challenges left, right and centre to dazzle everybody.
Gianluca Scamacca – 7
An extremely well-taken goal is exactly what Scamacca has needed for his confidence and he is now proving to be a very good striker in the Conference League, he now needs to translate that to the Premier League because he can be deadly when he is at his best.
Substitutes:
Said Benrahma (on for Paqueta 63′) – 5
Jarrod Bowen (on for Scamacca 63′) – 4
Tomas Soucek (on for Rice 63′) – 5
Pablo Fornals (on for Cornet 86′) – 6
Conor Coventry (on for Lanzini 90+2′) – N/A