West Ham manager David Moyes praised Jared Bowen after he equaled the Hammers’ all-time European goalscoring record in a 2-1 win over Anderlecht.
Bowen’s latest strike took him level with club greats Jonny Byrne and David Cross on six European goals as West Ham guaranteed qualification for the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League with two games remaining.
Despite Sebastiano Esposito’s late penalty, first-half goals from Said Benerhama and Bowen were enough to make it four wins from four in Group B.
David Moyes’ side still need a point from their last two games to confirm their direct passage to the last 16.
“It’s definitely a feather in his cap,” Moyes said of England international Bowen’s success. “There might be more European games with the group stage these days, but it’s still good and hopefully he’ll score a lot.
“He’s a lot closer to what he was last year and he looks like a threat every time he plays.”
West Ham were too good for their visitors, with Wolves loanee Fabio Silva barely making an impact against Anderlecht.
Benerhama’s well-taken free-kick gave the hosts the lead before Bowen scored his third European goal of the campaign.
The final 15 minutes saw ugly scenes as rival supporters threw seats at each other, forcing the police to intervene to keep them apart.
Benrahma makes an impact
Benerhama has been a disappointing performer for West Ham since joining from Brentford two years ago.
The Algerian is capable of moments of skill but, as Moyes notes, often his end product does not match the work of the approach.
His 14th minute opener was brilliant. He caught it perfectly, sizing up his free-kick 20 yards from a central position. And while he was helped by Anderlecht breaking down the wall early on, he had the speed and accuracy to beat Hendrik van Kromberg.
Yet in the second half came one of those moments that Moyes finds so troubling. In a lot of space, breaking down the left, Benerhama tried to find a teammate but overhit his cross, forcing central defender Ben Johnson to run back and recover.
Until Bennerhama loses that discontinuity with his game, it’s hard to see how he finds a place in Moyes’ first-choice line-up on a regular basis.
Hammers’ Injury Concerns
Apart from simmering tensions in the stands, West Ham’s downsides came on the injury front.
Angelo Ogbonna missed the final six months of last season after suffering a cruciate injury and worked hard all summer on his rehabilitation.
But the 34-year-old lasted just 22 minutes before he could not continue and was replaced by Craig Dawson.
The substitute then had to replace himself with 15 minutes to go, after clashing heads with team-mate Flynn Downes.
In his post-match news conference, Moyes said Ogbonna had a tight hamstring, while Dawson went off with a dead leg.
With Naif Aguirre returning to the first team despite a new contract in training after recovering from an ankle injury in pre-season, it could mean the Hammers are short on defense as they face three Premier League games in a week. League games are faced. Including a trip to Liverpool.
