West Ham are into the Europa League knockout stages despite a late Tomas Soucek own goal that saw them draw with Genk in David Moyes‘ 1,000th match as a manager.
Moyes has garnered more than enough experience in his almost 24 years in the dugout to know sentiment counts for nothing and his side had to come from a goal down in Belgium.
The Hammers had paid for a slow start at Cegeka Arena, with Joseph Paintsil darting onto Junya Ito’s pass and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola unable to keep out the forward’s low strike.
Benrahma fired in from Vladimir Coufal’s smart pull-back to level after the break and then added a delightful individual effort eight minutes from time to seemingly wrap up a win.
But Soucek inadvertently turned a cross into his own net with three minutes left.
Moyes’ side have 10 points from four games – six clear of Genk with two games left – and look set to go through as Group H winners. That would guarantee them a last-16 spot rather than, as group runners-up, having to go into a play-off with a third-placed team from the Champions League.
Dinamo Zagreb’s 3-1 win over Rapid Vienna left the Croatian side second, four points behind West Ham.
“I look at it that we’ve qualified, and the other part of it is we’re still new to this,” said Moyes.
“We are trying to keep players fresh for the Premier League, so somewhere along the line it was going to get bumpy – and Genk made it bumpy.”
Moyes hits the 1,000 mark
Moyes’ first game in management came before England midfielder Declan Rice, the most influential player in his current outfit, was even born, while the rest of his squad are unlikely to remember the Scot taking charge of Preston’s win over Macclesfield in January 1998.
After Everton, Manchester United, Real Sociedad, Sunderland and now the Hammers, Moyes becomes the 35th person on the League Managers’ Association’s list to reach the 1,000-game mark – and for the final six of those matches his side are unbeaten.
It would have been a better celebration had they held onto their lead.
Moyes was aiming to take West Ham into the last 16 of a European competition for the first time since the 1980-81 season, when they were knocked out in the Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals by eventual champions Dinamo Tbilisi.
But they started slowly in Belgium and went behind to Paintsil’s fourth-minute opener, with Areola then having to keep out a header from Paul Onuachu soon after.
For 20 minutes the Hammers really struggled to get to grips with a side they beat 3-0 in the reverse fixture and, in particular, the movement of Ito, who should have doubled the hosts’ lead following Paintsil’s swift break and cutback.
There were quickfire chances for Benrahma and Rice before the interval and Moyes made a triple switch soon after in a bid to change his side’s fortunes, while also resting forward Michail Antonio for Sunday’s Premier League visit of Liverpool.
They were soon level in the 59th minute through Benrahma and the forward added a brilliant late second thanks to some clever footwork and a low finish that fizzed beneath goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt.
But Genk, who started the day bottom of the group, did not let up and the unfortunate Soucek headed beyond his own goalkeeper to see the points shared.
“It’s quite hard to believe that I’ve got there and it’s a moment I’ll always remember, an away game in Europe,” said Moyes about his landmark. “And the game will always be remembered for when Tomas Soucek scored an own goal.”
