West Ham 3-0 Genk: Player ratings as comfortable win leaves Hammers on brink of qualification

West Ham made it three Europa League wins from three on Thursday as they secured a relatively comfortable 3-0 win over Genk.

The Belgian side saw Theo Bongonda's early header rightly ruled out for offside, but they continued to cause real problems for West Ham without creating anything concrete.

Jarrod Bowen should have opened the scoring for his side midway through, connecting with nothing but air with the goal at his mercy, but the Hammers did make the breakthrough seconds before the interval as Craig Dawson's header squirmed its way over the line.

The second half good off to a similar tempo, but once the clock ticked over to the 56th minute, West Ham exploded. Issa Diop rose highest to head home from a free-kick, and just as fans had started to settle down, Bowen made it 3-0 with a low drive.

In the blink of an eye, Genk's heads went and their mojo disappeared, and West Ham could have easily bagged a few more goals in the minutes that followed.

Once the adrenaline wore off, the game slowed down quite a lot, with both sides aware that this match was already over.

West Ham player ratings

1. Goalkeeper & defenders

Alphonse Areola (GK) - 5/10 - Thoroughly unconvincing early on. Caught in possession and guilty of some poor choices. Fortunate not to cost his side a goal.

Ben Johnson (RB) - 6/10 - Not particularly inspiring in attack but put in a real shift.

Craig Dawson (CB) - 7/10 - Yet again, an immense threat in the air and bagged a crucial goal to ease some of the pressure on his side. Wasn't scared dealing with 6'7 Onuachu either.

Issa Diop (CB) - 7/10 - Rose highest from a free-kick to net a nice goal. Found Onuachu's physicality hard to deal with but his mistakes weren't fatal.

Aaron Creswell (LB) - 8/10 - Pinging crosses in like his life depended on it. West Ham's creative hub, he assisted the first two goals and could have easily had a few more.

2. Midfielders

Tomas Soucek (CM) - 6/10 - Did his job well enough but looked a little tired. Probably could have done with sitting this one out.

Declan Rice (CM) - 7/10 - Clearly loving his license to go forward now. Controlled possession so well and kept West Ham ticking, alleviating pressure just as Genk were getting going.

Andriy Yarmolenko (RM) - 6/10 - A sloppy start to the game but grew in confidence after the third goal and started to cause real problems for the Genk defence.

Manuel Lanzini (AM) - 5/10 - Didn't offer enough of an attacking threat. Wanted too much time on the ball but Genk weren't prepared to give him it.

Nikola Vlasic (LM) - 5/10 - Struggled to establish himself in the game. Looked a bit isolated out wide and perhaps needed to be moved centrally. Some really poor work defensively too.

3. Forward

Jarrod Bowen (ST) - 7/10 - Needed a goal to make up for his awful miss and got a very nice one, shimmying his way through the defence and firing through the Genk goalkeeper.

4. Substitutes

Ryan Fredericks (LB) - 6/10 - Built up his fitness with some more minutes.

Mark Noble (CM) - 6/10 - Calmed things down after the third goal and ensured West Ham saw out a comfortable win.

Said Benrahma (LW) - N/A - Didn't get long on the pitch but managed a few nice moments.

Pablo Fornals (AM) - N/A - Another late addition who wasn't really needed.

Daniel Chesters (CM) - N/A - Handed a late debut.