Emerson flops in 4/10 display, James Ward-Prowse 8/10 – West Ham United player ratings v Olympiacos
West Ham secured a narrow victory over Olympiacos in the Europa League on Thursday (9 November).
A Lucas Paqueta goal in the second half was enough to hand the Hammers a 1-0 win to put them in with an excellent chance of making it through the group stages.
David Moyes would have wanted to see more quality from his side, but he will have been delighted by the grit they showed to grind out the three points.
Here West Ham Zone rates the players out of 10 for their performances.
Lukasz Fabianski – 6
After returning to the starting lineup, Fabianski had a quiet evening in between the sticks after Olympiacos failed to hit the target. The keeper clearly organised his defence well and will be delighted with the clean sheet.
Vladimir Coufal – 5
While the right-back was relatively solid defensively, he wasn’t quite as effective going forward as he has proven to be previously this season. He recorded just a 78 per cent pass success rate and only found a teammate with one of his four crosses.
Konstantinos Mavropanos – 7
It was a pretty solid performance from the Greek against Olympiacos. The defender made four clearances, two tackles and blocked one shot, while also winning five of his seven duels to limit the visitors to very few opportunities. But he should have scored with a late header to make the evening more comfortable [SofaScore].
Nayef Aguerd – 7
He went close to scoring twice in the first half, but the centre-back couldn’t guide either of his headers into the back of the net from pinpoint James Ward-Prowse corners. He won eight out of his 10 duels in a dominant defensive display.
Emerson – 4
Emerson was a little shaky defensively as he gave away a couple of excellent opportunities that Olympiacos were unable to take. He also didn’t offer too much going forward.
Edson Alvarez (Off for Soucek ’80) – 6
The midfielder picked up a harsh yellow card in the first half when he appeared to get the ball with a sliding challenge, but the referee saw the situation differently. The Mexican was as combative as ever, though, as he won the ball back on several occasions for his side.
James Ward-Prowse – 8
Ward-Prowse was part of everything that was good about West Ham on the night. He did his job in the middle of the park, but he also delivered a number of excellent set-pieces into the box. The midfielder set up Paqueta for the winner with a delightful ball over the top.
Lucas Paqueta – 7
It was a mixed performance from Paqueta. The Brazilian was sloppy in possession, but he popped up with an excellent finish to secure the victory for his side.
Mohammed Kudus (Off for Mubama ’89) – 4
It wasn’t the best performance from Kudus as he struggled to get going and put in them dangerous runs that we’ve come accustomed to seeing. There will be better nights ahead for the Ghanaian.
Said Benrahma (Off for Cornet ’84) – 6
Benrahma was a little bit wasteful early on when he should’ve played in Paqueta, but he was the Hammers’ best player in the first half. He looked dangerous coming off the left-hand side and was unfortunate to not find himself on the scoresheet.
Jarrod Bowen – 5
A pretty quiet night for Bowen by his standards. It’s pretty clear he isn’t a striker as he struggled to really get involved in the game. The England international got a bit better as the match went on as he pushed further out wide.
Subs
Tomas Soucek (On for Alvarez ’80) – N/A
Maxwel Cornet (On for Benrahma ’84) – N/A
Divin Mubama (On for Kudus ’89) – N/A
In other West Ham news, a talkSPORT pundit has shared his verdict after a Moyes sack decision has emerged.