Despite their 100% win in the Europa League, which was ended by Gent, West Ham are well placed to make the back-to-back European semi-finals.
The Hammers were on course to make it 11 wins out of 11 in Europe this season when Danny Ings tapped home after catching the hosts out with a speedy throw-in.
David Moyes’ side, last season’s Europa League semi-finalists, had to weather waves of pressure in a tense quarter-final first leg in Belgium and Gent equalized after a smart touch and finish from Hugo Kuipers.
“I didn’t think the performance was good but the result wasn’t bad,” West Ham boss Moyes said.
“I think you can tell that everyone has worked really hard to get here and they don’t want to miss the opportunity to make it to the semi-finals.”
The hosts went into next week’s return leg in search of a winner, with Gift Orban – who scored a hat-trick 205 seconds into the last round – hitting the bar with a superb 82nd-minute acrobatic effort. .
There was deep drama in stoppage time when Gent’s Kamil Piatkowski was shown a red card for bringing down substitute Lucas Piqueta, but the referee overturned the incident after replaying the incident on a pitchside monitor.
Hammers relieved to escape with draw
In the end West Ham were relieved to emerge with a draw after a dramatic finish, which was quickly revoked by a red card.
Immediately on the counter, Gent caused problems everywhere and the Hammers know they will have to play better when the teams meet again at the London Stadium next Thursday.
“We are away from home, facing a strong crowd, and Gent played very well,” added Moyes. “Hopefully when we see them next Thursday we’ll show them a little bit more about how we play.”
Moyes’ side, however, will still be confident of finishing the job in front of their fans.
They will be without Angelo Ogbonna to return after the defender was booked early on after lengthy treatment when he landed heavily on his back following an aerial challenge in the first half.
It was a night when the Hammers had to dig deep, with Ben Johnson and Declan Rice making key challenges to prevent Gent scoring as Orban and Capers threatened.
Gent controlled most of the first half but West Ham thought they had scored when keeper Davy Roofe dropped the ball at the feet of Naif Agurd following a corner – only for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). To dampen the English side’s celebrations after the check. For handball.
The Hammers were celebrating, however, as Angus scored his first European club goal in first-half injury time from Jarrod Bowen’s low cross which was quickly tipped over by Vladimir Koffel.
But Gent equalized in the 56th minute after a fine move by Belgian forward Kupers to set up an exciting second leg.
“That’s why we brought Danny [Angs] in, because he’s got goals,” added Moyes. “If we create chances, he will take them.
“We didn’t create enough tonight, we didn’t build well enough and made it difficult for ourselves. We were more responsible to score a second on the counter, but it didn’t pay off.”
