By Pranav Shahaney

16th Mar, 2023 | 9:54pm

West Ham United v AEK Larnaca player ratings: Ben Johnson drops stinker in Conference League

West Ham ran out comfortable 4-0 winners and 6-0 on aggregate as they breezed past AEK Larnaca in the Conference League on Thursday, 16 March.

Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring for David Moyes’ men before Jarrod Bowen added two quick goals to put the game beyond all doubt.

Divin Mubama then came off the bench to score the fourth goal of the contest – a strike appreciated by the London Stadium faithful.

Here are our player ratings for this one

Alphonse Areola – 7

Kept a clean sheet and made three saves in the game in the West Ham goal. It wasn’t like he had to pull off blinders, but did his job when called upon. He also completed 21 out of his 25 attempted passes which means he was decent with the ball at his feet

Ben Johnson – 3

Had a nightmare of a game defensively and despite it being opponents that shouldn’t be threatening, Johnson really struggled at right-back. His fluffed bicycle kick certainly did not help his cause in any way. He may need a season out on loan to prove he deserves to be in the first team.

Kurt Zouma – 5

It was an average performance from the Frenchman who never seemed like he need to get out of second gear. He lost his only attempted aerial duel but then went on to complete over 90 per cent of his passes.

Angelo Ogobonna – 7

Captained the side and had a good outing in front of the home fans. He was a menace for the Larnaca attackers and absolute shut down the left side of defence. With Aaron Cresswell bombing forward, he covered up exceptionally well for the Englishman.

Aaron Cresswell – 4

Played an inch-perfect cross to Bowen who then headed the ball into the back of the net. However, defensively he was still all over the place like Johnson and it’s the sort of performance that surely would’ve been punished in the league.

Lucas Paqueta – 4

Lost possession on 12 occasions in what wasn’t the best of games for the Brazilian. With Larnaca not really closing him down too much, he still managed a pass accuracy of over 80 per cent but we’ve seen better performances from him in the past.

Tomas Soucek – 7

Was by far the better of the two West Ham midfielders in the game. Soucek completed 91 per cent of his passes and was also pinpoint with his long balls – misplacing just one throughout the contest. He was also a menace in the air, winning all three of his attempted duels.

Jarrod Bowen – 8

Scored two goals in two minutes with the second one being a brilliant header in the second half. Performances like these are why he’s so highly rated but he’s got to do it more frequently.

Pablo Fornals – 7

Tried making things happen and was unlucky not to be on the scoresheet. However, Moyes will be impressed with his performance as he left everything out there on the pitch for the Hammers.

Manuel Lanzini – 8

Appeared to be everywhere on the pitch. Completed over 100 passes as he always looked to receive the ball in order to make things happen. It would be hard to think of a single attack that did not have the Argentine’s touches on it.

Gianluca Scamacca – 9

Was scrappy, but managed to put the ball into the back of the net when it mattered to give his side the lead. He could’ve registered an assist at the stroke of half time too but Pablo Fornals missed the target. He played a key role for the second goal as well as it was due to his effort that Bowen had an easy shot on goal.

Subs

Levi Leing – 4

Freddie Potts – 4

Maxwel Cornet – 5

Danny Ings – 5

Divin Mubama – 6