Job done in Italian style for West Ham in Brussels as Scamacca breaks Anderlecht hearts in 1-0 win

By Alessandro Schiavone in Brussels

Veni, Vici, Gianluca Scamacca.

The £35.5 million summer signing's 79th minute stunner was enough for West Ham to claim bragging rights over fellow capital club Anderlecht in a 1-0 win in Brussels on Thursday night.

But the Hammers were made to work extremely hard either side of the Italian’s breakthrough goal.

In the end Moyes and his men had to thank Alphonse Areola as his exquisite point-blank range save from Wolves loanee Fabio Silva’s header late on consolidated the three points.

That stunning parade, as they call it in Wallonia, perhaps jus about outshone Scamacca’s terrific opener and will be talked about for days, weeks, months. Maybe years to come.

Winning means that the Hammers extend their lead to the top of their Europa Conference League group to five points with the exciting European knockout nights set to return to the Eastern part of the capital once again after the World Cup.

It’s fair to say that Anderlecht provided a much tougher examination than FCSB and Silkeborg in the previous rounds did. The gulf between the two capital clubs became immediately apparent and was not reflected in the result despite Areola’s heroics.

Anderlecht had chances to take the lead themselves throughout the game but barring Silva’s heaeder none was as clear-cut as the ones Benrahma failed to bury.

With former Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen sitting out through illness, it’s fair to claim that the Algerian winger had an easy ride in Anderlecht’s 18-yard box. He read the game superbly, was often involved in his side’s attacks and in the right position to pounce.

If only he had his shooting boots on though as the Algeria international had a night to forget in front of goal, missing chance after chance.

The scoreline should have been emphatic by the time two-thirds of the game had been completed.

In the first period, a curler by the 25-year-old was efficiently blocked by an Anderlecht player.

And after watching on as Michail Antonio blasted over, Benrahma copied his teammate minutes later.

Jarrod Bowen skipped past a feeble tackle from Wesley Hoedt, looked up and cut it back for his teammate who made a hash of it all by sending the ball into the stands.

In between Yari Verschaeren tried to announce himself on the big stage, with Premier League clubs watching.

But Fabio Silva failed to convert the youngster’s precise pass from the byline into an assist. Before the young Belgian had a go himself, forcing Alphonse Areola into an excellent save after surging in on goal.

In the second period, Benrahma forced Van Crombrugge into a low save as the missed chance count kept rising.

In the 69th minute, Moyes had enough of it all and made a triple substitution with Gianluca Scamacca, Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice replacing Michail Antonio, Manuel Lanzini and Said Benrhama.

And that act of bravery reaped its rewards.

Almost immediately, because after a quick combination between the Brazilian and the Italian, another good move ended with no goal as Flynn Downes scuffed a left-footed effort.

In the end though it all came down to Scamacca who after Wolves at the weekend, broke down a resilient defence as his effort on the turn arrowed across Henrik Van Crombrugge’s goal and into the far bottom corner.

If only Wolves loanee Silva had done the same when sending a free header too close to Areola at the death.

The Frenchman showed once again why he should make the number one position his own sooner rather than later.