UEL: Hammer down the debutants! Reality hits TSC at London Stadium

West Ham United were made to work for it but they got their Europa League campaign off with a 3-1 win over tournament debutants TSC Bačka Topola. Victory for the Hammers extended their unbeaten run in Europe to 16 matches.

TSC were making their debut in the group stage of an European tournament, and their game plan was clear from the off - to get every man behind the ball and try to nick something on the counter. David Moyes would have known the solution would be on his players to break down a stubborn defence and his attacking team selection nodded to that. Moyes would have known the importance of getting an early breakthrough to ease any nerves, and they nearly had that, after creating a barrage of attacks.

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First, James Ward-Prowse, a set piece specialist, almost opened the scoring with a free-kick in the fifth minute, and then Saïd Benarahma saw a goalbound effort deflected wide. Thilo Kehrer was next to come close but the defender's shot was superbly saved by Nikola Simić. The Hammers were finding it problematic in breaking down the stubborn visitors defence, and went into the halftime break goalless, having had almost three-quarters of the possession, and 15 shots on goal but nothing to show for it.

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The second half started with a bang, and it wasn’t the one the Hammers fans expected or wanted. Angelo Ogbonna was caught in possession on the halfway line as Petar Stanić nicked the ball and made him pay, running through on goal and finishing with aplomb, curling past Łukasz Fabiański. With the prospect of being on the end of one of the most embarrassing moments in the club’s history, Moyes’ players turned a screw, and restored parity and peace around the London Stadium. Benerahma’s cross to the far post was turned into his own net by Nemanja Petrović, who was under pressure by Mohammed Kudus. The Ghanaian then completed the turnaround four minutes later as he did well to fashion space in the box and nod in from Ward Prowse’s corner.

With a narrow but perhaps deserved lead, the Hammers went searching for a third goal to make things comfortable, and it arrived in the 82nd minute. Once again, a Ward-Prowse corner kick was turned in - this time by Tomáš Souček. The home side saw out the remainder of the match with relative ease, and no doubt relieved the fears of the fans inside the London Stadium, who were left anxious for over 60 minutes.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 1

Thursday

LASK - Liverpool 1-3 (1-0)

/Flecker 14 - Nuneza 56, Diaz 63, Salah 88/

St.Gilloise - Toulouse 1-1 (0-1)

/Amoura 69 - Dallinga 45/

Panathinaikos - Villareal 2-0 (1-0)

/Ionnaidis 38, Sporar 78/

Rennes - Maccabi Haifa 3-0 (2-0)

/Blas 1, Truffert 31, Yildirim 55/

Servette - Slavia Praha 0-2 (0-1)

/Masopust 32, Ogbu 58/

Sheriff Tiraspol - Roma 1-2

/Tovar 57 - Kiki (og) 45-2, Lukaku 65/

Leverkusen - Hacken 4-0 (2-0)

/Wirtz 11, Adli 16, Boniface 66, Hofmann 70/

Qarabag - Molde 1-0 (0-0)

/Andrade 55/

Olympiakos - Freiburg 2-2 (1-1)

/El Kaabi 40, 74 - Sallai 9, Grifo 45+7/

West Ham - TSC Backa Topola 3-1 (0-0)

/Petrovic (og) 66, Kudus 70, Soucek 82 - Stanic 47/

Ajax - Olympique Marseille 3-3 (2-2)

/Forbs 9, Berghuis 20, Taylor 52 - Clauss 23, Aubameyang 38, 78/

Brighton - AEK 2-3 (1-2)

/Joao Pedro 30, 67 - Sidibe 11, Gacinovic 40, Ponce 84/

Rangers - Betis 1-0 (0-0)

/Sima 67/

Sparta Praha - Aris Limmasol 3-2 (2-1)

/Krejci 20, 25, Vitik 67 - Kokorin 11, Babicka 90/

Atalanta - Rakow 2-0 (0-0)

/De Keteleare 49, Ederson 66/

Sturm - Sporting 1-2 (0-0)

/Boving 58 - Gyokeres 75, Coates 84/