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
26 mins: Spurs deal with the Vitesse corner easily enough and sweep up the pitch on the counter. They lose the ball though and the home side send it out to Dasa on the right wing. He pushes forward and swings a cross in towards Frederiksen. The forward gets in from of Joe Rodon, leaps to win the header but knocks it wide of the back post.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
24 mins: Wittek receives the ball on the left wing and flies forward urging his teammates to make runs into the box. Darfalou and Openda do so but Wittek uses them as decoys and takes a shot from the inside left. The ball hits Davinson Sanchez and deflects behind for a Vitesse corner.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
21 mins: Tottenham are just about taking control of the game. They’re seeing more possession and pushing further up the pitch as a unit. Not a lot of action in the Vitesse final third as of yet.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
18 mins: Tottenham regain possession and break forward on the counter-attack. Dele Alli drives them forward and has three options ahead of him. He passes it to Lo Celso who tries to feed Gil into the right side of the box but underhits his pass and allows Danilho Doekhi to intercept the ball.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
15 mins: Drama! The corner is played short and comes back to Wittek. He carries the ball into the box and is tackled by a lunging Bryan Gil who just manages to win the ball before colliding with the midfielder in the box.
There’s a loud appeal for a penalty but the referee plays on as Scarlett attempts to run the ball clear for Tottenham. He’s tackled by a sliding Matus Bero who takes out the man and picks up the first yellow card of the game.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
12 mins: Dasa swings a cross into the box from the right and Japhet Tanganga knocks it out behind for a corner. Maximilian Wittek delivers the set piece and the ball drops for Dasa. He shoots and wins another corner as the ball deflects behind off a Spurs defender.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
9 mins: Harry Winks wins the ball for Spurs in the middle third of the pitch. He sends it up to Steven Bergwijn who cuts across the pitch with the ball. Dele Alli provides on option to his right but he slots it into the area expecting a run from Dan Scarlett that doesn’t happen. The ball rolls into Markus Schubert and the attack breaks down.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
6 mins: Urged on by the Vitesse fans Eli Dasa sends a long throw into the Tottenham penalty area but Giovani Lo Celso intercepts it. He attempts to run the ball out of his own final third and is fouled by Oussama Darfalou.
Vitesse 0 - 0 Tottenham
3 mins: Lovely play from Vitesse. Openda picks up the ball and runs into the left side channel. He slots a through ball into the box as Nikolai Baden Frederiksen makes a run into the left side of the area. The striker collects the ball and shoots but Pierluigi Gollini charges him down and keeps it out.
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