West Ham 3-1 TSC Backa Topola: Player ratings as Hammers come from behind to avoid Europa League shock

West Ham United marked their return to the Europa League after last season's Europa Conference League triumph with a 3-1 win over TSC Backa Topola, but needed to come from behind to do it.

The population of TSC’s home town in northern Serbia could fit inside the London Stadium nearly twice, but they took a shock lead through Petar Stanic. The Hammers eventually prevailed thanks to an own goal, followed by headers from Mohammed Kudus – his first for the club – and Tomas Soucek.

How the game unfolded

Not exactly the glamour fixture of a group that also includes Olympiacos and Freiburg, there were visible patches of empty seats at the London Stadium that served to suppress the atmosphere. But the hosts were close to an early lead when a deflected James Ward-Prowse free-kick only narrowly missed the target after clipping the defensive wall.

In open play, Said Benrahma was the main source of creativity from the left, consistently linking up well with Danny Ings, who looked keen to prove a point on his first start of the season. The latter saw an effort beaten away by TSC goalkeeper Nikola Simic, while Thilo Kehrer was also denied by the stopper when his shot at the far post went through a forest of legs.

There were further chances when Kudus had a shot deflected that just dropped wide of the post, while Konstantinos Mavropanos glanced a header just wide from the resultant corner. But too many attempts were failing to further test Simic in the TSC goal. That Hammers profligacy could then have been punished when the visitors clipped the bar with header in first half stoppage time.

The warning wasn't heeded when the second half began and West Ham were caught cold by a TSC side with fresh vigour. It was a dreadful error from Angelo Ogbonna, who was guilty of thinking he more time than he did when his pocket was picked. Stanic raced away and coolly finished.

The reaction from the Hammers wasn't instant, lacking the quality they needed to get back on level terms for around 20 minutes or so. But when Benrahma stepped up with a moment of magic down the left, cutting back and floating a ball to the far post, TSC couldn't deal with it and Nemanja Petrovic unwittingly turned it into the net under pressure from Kudus.

The Ghanaian wheeled away in celebration somewhat optimistically, although it was only four minutes before he could do it for real. There was no doubt as he got on the end of a James Ward-Prowse corner, of which there had been many by that point, to head in from close-range.

Ward-Prowse's second assist of the night wrapped up the victory late on, whipping the ball towards the near post for Soucek to flick into the net. A top save from Simic denied Soucek a West Ham fourth, seconds before a goal-line clearance kept fellow sub Michail Antonio out.

West Ham player ratings (4-3-3)

GK: Luaksz Fabianski - 5/10 - Had precious little to do and stood little chance with the goal.

RB: Thilo Kehrer - 6/10 - Got forward a couple of times in the first half with mixed effect.

CB: Konstantinos Mavropanos - 7/10 - Smart in possession, made some decent tackles and also went close to scoring with a header.

CB: Angelo Ogbonna (c) - 4/10 - Guilty of a grave error that handed TSC the lead and could have been way more costly than it ended up being.

LB: Aaron Cresswell - 6/10 - Could only complete 45 minutes because of an injury.

CM: Pablo Fornals - 5/10 - Disappointing and the player sacrificed for the tactical reshuffle.

CM: James Ward-Prowse - 8/10 - Set-piece delivery was really good and produced two assists.

CM: Lucas Paqueta - 7/10 - Passed well and covered plenty of ground trying to get into the box.

RW: Mohmmed Kudus - 8/10 - A few bright moments early on, but made a vital impact after the break with his maiden goal for the club after also forcing the own goal equaliser.

ST: Danny Ings - 6/10 - Started brightly like he was trying to stake his claim for a more regular place, but struggled to keep that impact.

LW: Said Benrahma - 8/10 - West Ham's best source of creativity in the first half. Went missing for 20 minutes after half-time, before world class skill led to the equaliser.

Substitutes

SUB: Emerson Palmieri (46' for Cresswell) - 6/10

SUB: Michail Antonio (61' for Fornals) - 6/10

SUB: Tomas Soucek (76' for Ings) - 7/10

SUB: Maxwel Cornet (86' for Paqueta) - N/A

Subs not used: Areola (GK), Anang (GK), Coufal, Aguerd, Zouma, Johnson, Coventry, Mubama

Manager

David Moyes - 8/10 - Made some, but not many, changes to his team coming into this one. Replacing a midfielder with a forward when the Hammers needed a goal and were struggling to find a way back into the game was an important move.

Player of the match - James Ward-Prowse (West Ham)

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