West Ham player ratings v Brentford: Tomas Soucek stinks, Declan Rice shines
West Ham secured progression into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 1-0 win away against Brentford on 7 January.
Said Benrahma came off the bench to score a scintillating long-ranged effort against his former club to secure the three points.
David Moyes opted to bring on the Algerian for Tomas Soucek and his decision was vindicated as his goal proved to be the difference between the two teams.
Our ratings for this one:
Lukasz Fabianski – 6
The Polish keeper did not have much to do bar making one save. Brentford spent most of the game without the ball and they did not really threaten the opposition goal.
Craig Dawson – 4
Not the best of games for the senior defender. Picked up a yellow card and also failed to win a single ground duel. He also looked slightly nervy in possession of the ball too.
Angelo Ogbonna – 6
Looked solid defensively and managed to stay focused right until the end after Brentford started to come forward as they were chasing the game after Benrahma’s strike.
Nayef Aguerd – 7
Was decent with his passing as well as his defending, winning most of his aerial duels. He’s really a good option to play on the left side of a back three for the Hammers.
Ben Johnson – 4
Playing as a wing-back, Moyes surely would have wanted more from Johnson going forward but he did not get that. He failed to complete a single cross and did not really offer much of an attacking threat. He even lost half of his ground duels so it wasn’t the best of games defensively either.
Lucas Paqueta – 7
Ran tirelessly for the Hammers and put in an exceptional shift for Moyes. He was sharp with his passes and also moved into the half spaces to cause problems for the Brentford defence. An undoubtedly clever player and it could be seen with his performances.
Delcan Rice – 8
Rice was everywhere on the pitch. Not only did he do well to get the ball out of defence, he even made marauding runs beyond the attackers and threatened the opposition goal. He’s undoubtedly the best player on the side and once again reminded fans of that fact. He also won the ball which led to Benrahma’s goal.
Tomas Soucek – 2
The Czech Republic midfielder was out of sorts all game and made some very questionable calls both with and without the ball. His miss from six yards is certainly going to make the headlines while he also gave away the ball in a dangerous area that nearly led to a Keane Lewis Potter goal. Moyes needs to stop giving him so many chances.
Emerson – 6
Did much more than Johnson did on the other side and often found himself in decent areas to whip the ball into the box. With a little more luck he would’ve got his name on the assists tally.
Jarrod Bowen – 5
Started much more centrally with Johnson being tasked to provide the width, but as the game progressed, he ended up drifting out wide. He failed to really get himself in any goal-scoring positions, having just one shot all game. A pretty dull game from the English attacker.
Michail Antonio – 6
Looked the hungrier of the two West Ham attacking players and did his best to get involved in the game as goal-scoring chances were few and far between. He used his frame well to bring his teammates into the game and Moyes would’ve been impressed by his overall application.
Subs
Said Benrahma – 7
Pablo Fornals – N/A
Flynn Downes – N/A