West Ham United player ratings v FCSB: 3/10 Emerson is waste of money
West Ham United came from behind to avoid embarrassment at home to FC Steaua Bucharest to start their European campaign positively.
The Romanian side took a shock lead at the London Stadium just after the half-hour mark and a low cross across the face of goal landed at the feet of Andrei Cordea who simply slotted home unchallenged.
Bucharest looked the most likely to score for much of the game but West Ham were suddenly awarded a surprise penalty which was duly put away by Jarrod Bowen to equalise.
Emerson Palmieri then found a way to turn the tide as chaos in the box led to a drilled finish from the new left-back before Michail Antonio added a late third.
Alphonse Areola – 6
The Frenchman could do nothing about Bucharest’s goal in all honesty and he was alert enough to be on the sweep whenever the Romanians tried a ball in behind and he dealt with everything else calmly enough but needed much more help from his defence
Vladimir Coufal – 4
The goal came down Coufal’s side and the Czech Republic international needed to be more resilient going back towards his own goal. On a night where he did plenty of attacking, it was his one defensive error that defined his display.
Thilo Kehrer – 5
After a very tricky couple of games, Kehrer will have been delighted to have a relatively quiet evening at the back but on the one occasion the Romanians attacked, he could not deal with it. The German international was able to simply knock it around and feed the more creative midfield players ahead of him in possession though.
Angelo Ogbonna – 6
Similarly to his central defensive colleague, Ogbonna’s night was one of little defending to do and plenty of simple passes that could have been completed by the club’s Under-9s team. But even his experience could not help any organisation at the back for the opening goal.
Emerson Palmieri – 3
It was a quiet night at the back for West Ham but Palmieri still managed to look shaky in front of his own goal. A missed header from a deep cross nearly cost the Irons badly and then he failed to follow his man for the opening goal. Even his redemption at the other end doesn’t take away from a poor night. Let’s have Aaron Cresswell back please.
Flynn Downes – 8 (Man of the Match)
As first starts for your new club goes, Downes didn’t half do badly in the claret and blue. The £12million signing from Swansea City in the summer was tenacious in the tackle and looked as composed as he could be on the ball in a game which was dominated by the home side.
Declan Rice – 6
By Rice’s incredibly high standards, this was something of a sub-par performance compared to his new central midfielder partner Downes. But every great player is allowed an off night, it is just a shame that his fellow teammates endured it as well.
Maxwel Cornet – 6
A semi-lively evening from the Ivorian was not what Moyes would have been hoping for when the Irons paid £17.5million to sign him but he was far from the quietest player in claret and blue. You can tell that the talent is there but it might take time to flourish.
Manuel Lanzini – 4
If the late summer signing of Lucas Paqueta was in doubt before, it certainly isn’t now. Lanzini proved that he is nowhere near good enough to start in the Conference League let alone the Premier League in a game where he should have been the beating heart of West Ham.
Said Benrahma – 5
For someone who is supposed to be a trickster and beats his opposite number for fun, Benrahma was incredibly underwhelming out wide for the Hammers as he was kept in relative control by the Steaua Bucharest backline. He hasn’t done his case any favours for a more regular place in Moyes’ side.
Gianluca Scamacca – 5
A free header six yards out is Scamacca’s bread and butter but he inexcusably missed one in the first half. He is still getting used to the team and the nation, understandably, but for such a big price, he should be burying that kind of chance without a moment’s thought.
Substitutes:
Jarrod Bowen (on for Benrahma 46′) – 7
Lucas Paqueta (on for Lanzini 46′) – 6
Michail Antonio (on for Scamacca 46′) – 6
Pablo Fornals (on for Cornet 68′) – 5
Craig Dawson (on for Ogbonna 90′) – N/A