West Ham vs Genk LIVE: Europa League result, final score and reaction tonight
Relive all the live action from the London Stadium
West Ham continued their European cruise with a thumping 3-0 win over Belgian side Genk.
Goals from Craig Dawson, Issa Diop and Jarrod Bowen made it three wins out of three for the Hammers in their maiden Europa League group campaign and kept them firmly on course for the knockout stages.
West Ham are already six points clear at the top of Group H and could even secure qualification as group winners in their next match, in Genk in a fortnight, with two games to spare.
Unlike Sunday’s opponents Tottenham, who left their entire starting XI at home for their unsuccessful continental trip to Vitesse Arnhem, Hammers boss David Moyes kept the likes of Bowen, Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek and Aaron Cresswell in his line-up.
Moyes is clearly eager to secure qualification as quickly as possible, although he took no risks with striker Michail Antonio, having rested him completely ahead of the London derby.
Antonio’s absence as the focal point of West Ham’s attack was felt in a disjointed first half against the Belgian Cup holders.
The hosts were given an early fright when Genk had the ball in the net after Theo Bongonda converted a cross from Junya Ito, but the latter was offside.
Soucek had needed plastic surgery on some horrific facial injuries earlier in the week, having been caught by a stray boot against Everton on Sunday.
But that did not stop the Czech international getting his head to a Rice cross for West Ham’s best chance of the opening stages, with Genk goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt making a diving save.
With the Hammers settling down, Bowen missed a golden opportunity on the half hour when he kicked at thin air in front of goal from Ben Johnson’s inviting low cross, and Dawson headed over from a corner.
Yet West Ham had another lucky escape when goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was beaten to a cross by Genk’s towering striker Paul Onuachu, whose header looped just wide.
Bowen failed to get on the end of another low cross, this time from Cresswell, before West Ham broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time.
Cresswell swung in a corner and centre-half Dawson rose highest to steer the ball home off his shoulder.
West Ham have become set-piece specialists under Moyes and they were at it again at the start of the second half, Dawson’s defensive partner Diop heading home at the near post from Cresswell’s free-kick.
Moments later the hosts stole possession near the halfway line and Bowen galloped forward before firing home a fine solo goal to wrap up the victory.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
72 mins: Wittek swings a free kick into the box and attempts to pick out Doekhi in the centre of the box. Tottenham win the first ball but it drops to Openda. He loads up to shoot but the offside flag goes up against the Vitesse captain from the initial cross and Spurs win a free kick of their own.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
69 mins: Dasa’s getting himself into decent positions when he comes in from the right side. Vitesse work the ball out to him and he takes another shot from outside the box. This one is one target but Gollini smothers it low down to his right.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
66 mins: Dele Alli plays the ball out of his own final third and lays it off to Lo Celso. He tries to spur Tottenham into a counter-attack by driving into the midfield but Bero lunges in and wins back the ball.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
63 mins: Vitesse’s final ball into the box hasn’t been great. They’ve attempted a few crosses from the right but nothing has beaten the Tottenham centre-backs.
Close! Darfalou slips the ball to Dasa who’s forward on the right. They’ve got an overload on as Dasa drives towards the box. He shoots just as he reaches the front edge and narrowly sends the effort wide of the near post.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
60 mins: Back to Arnhem where Tottenham’s early momentum at the start of the second half has been slowly eroded away by Vitesse. The home side have taken over possession and the game has developed into a midfield battle.
Line-ups: West Ham vs Genk
Following the conclusion of this game we’ll be focusing of West Ham’s next outing in the Europa League as they take on Genk. Kick off for that one is at 8pm and here are the starting line-ups:
West Ham XI: Fabianski, Johnson, Diop, Dawson, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Vlasic, Lanzini, Yarmolenko, Bowen.
Genk XI: Vandevoordt, Preciado, Cuesta, Lucumi, Arteaga, Heynen, Hrosovsky, Bongonda, Ito, Onuachu.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
54 mins: Tottenham have been a bit more aggressive since the restart. Scarlett is throwing his weight around and trying impose himself on the Vitesse defenders. Doekhi is hit by the forward but not before he slips the ball away to Tronstad. Tronstad passes it out to Wittek on the left side and he knocks the ball down the line to give Openda a chase. Sanchez gets back and slides across the Vitesse striker, winning the ball and clearing it for Spurs.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
51 mins: Dane Scarlett is penalised after taking on Bazoer over on the right side of the box. The defender sticks to Scarlett, marshalling him wider and wider before eventually shoving him to ground and toppling over him. I’m not sure Scarlett’s done a lot wrong there but Vitesse are given the free kick.
OFF THE BAR! Gil comes close to an opener!
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
48 mins: Great play from Tottenham. Lo Celso is given the ball just inside his own half. He turns and shimmies past a Vitesse midfielder before driving the ball up the opponents box. There’s no way into the area for him so he squares the ball to Bryan Gil who hits a first-time left-footed shot beautifully. It’s got swerve and dip but just not enough as it smacks into the crossbar and bounces away!
Second half: Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
Kick off: Can Tottenham get a goal in this second half. Judging by the first 45 minutes one goal may be enough for either team to claim all three points.
The visitors get the match back underway. Bergwijn flicks the ball up to Scarlett who chests it down and spins Rasmussen only for the offside flag to go up.
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