October 22, (THEWILL) – On Thursday, English Premier League side West Ham made it three wins in a row in the Europa League by defeating Paul Onuachu’s Genk 3-0 at their London Stadium home grounds.
Theo Bongonda’s early header was correctly ruled out for offside, but the Belgians continued to cause West Ham problems without producing anything concrete. Onuachu was blunt in attack registering only two shots in total.
Jarrod Bowen should have opened the scoring for his side midway through the half when he connected with nothing but air with the goal at his mercy, but the Hammers broke the deadlock seconds before the break when Craig Dawson’s header squirmed over the line.
The second half started off at a similar pace, but when the clock struck 56 minutes, West Ham exploded. Issa Diop rose highest to head home a free-kick, and Bowen made it 3-0 with a low drive just as the crowd began to relax.
Genk could not fashion out any manner of response to trailing their hosts. And, West Ham could have easily scored a few more goals in the minutes that followed.
In the 73rd minute, Genk’s manager John van den Brom replaced the marked-out Onuachu with Ike Ugbo, who displayed an urgency to get on the scoresheet as quickly as possible. But the Hammers’ defense held on solidly to avoid any breaches.
When the adrenaline wore off, the game slowed significantly, as both teams realised the match was already over.
As a result of the win, West Ham maintained their perfect record in the group and extended their nine-point lead. Genk dropped to fourth place, but they are level on points with Dinamo Zagreb in second.
David Moyes’ side became only the second English team to win each of their first three group games in a single UEFA Europa League campaign without conceding, after Tottenham Hotspur did same in the 2013/2014 campaign. When Sevilla did the same in the 2019/2020 season, they won the competition.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
