West Ham 3-1 TSC Backa Topola: Hosts storm back to record UEFA Europa League victory after early scare

Mohammed Kudus scored one goal and played a big role in another as West Ham came from behind to beat TSC Backa Topola 3-1 in their opening UEFA Europa League game.

The well-drilled Serbian side frustrated West Ham in the first half and took the lead not long into the second when Angelo Ogbonna was caught on the ball by Petar Stanic, who ran through on goal and slotted home.

West Ham pulled level after good work on the left from Said Benrahma led Nemanja Petrovic to divert the Algerian’s cross into his own net, under pressure from Kudus.

Kudus headed in a James Ward-Prowse corner four minutes later to give the hosts the lead, and substitute Tomas Soucek did the same in the closing stages to make it 3-1.

In the end it was a routine victory for West Ham and another substitute, Michail Antonio, twice came close to scoring, but the fact he and Soucek were on the pitch reflected the scare Backa Topola had given them.

The win takes West Ham top of Group A, ahead of Freiburg on goal difference after the Germans won 3-2 at Olympiacos.

David Moyes made nine changes to West Ham’s starting line-up, including an entirely new back four and goalkeeper. The manager hailed West Ham’s strength in depth before kick-off, but the new faces conspired to produce a plodding and at times careless performance which will not have impressed him. That Ward-Prowse and Lucas Paqueta – the two survivors from the weekend’s Premier League match – were arguably West Ham’s two best players said a lot.

West Ham will need to rely on squad depth if they are to make a deep run in this competition and compete in the league, so Moyes and his understudies must hope this was a case of rustiness against awkward opposition rather than a warning sign. There are far tougher matches to come.

His set-piece delivery was The Hammers’ one consistent source of chances and produced two goals. It could easily have been a hat-trick of assists for Ward-Prowse too, had Antonio or Ogbonna been more accurate with their headers.

West Ham: Fabianski 6, Kehrer 6, Mavropanos 6, Ogbonna 4, Cresswell 6, Ward-Prowse 8, Paqueta 6, Fornals 5, Behrahma 6, Kudus 6, Ings 5. Subs: Emerson 5, Antonio 6, Soucek 7, Cornet n/a.

TSCBacka Topola: Simic 7, Cvetokovic 6, Antonic 7, Dordevic 6, Petrovic 6, Radin 5, Dakovac 5, Stojic 6, Kuveljic 6, Stanic 6, Jovanovic 6. Subs: Krstic 5, Cirkovic 5, Vulic 5, Rakonjac 5, Mirchevski n/a.

OFF THE BAR! 45+1′ – The visitors have a corner on their right, a deep cross is met by the head of Stojic and his effort clips the top of the bar.

GOAL! WEST HAM 0-1 BACKA TOPOLA (STANIC) 47′ – The visitors lead! West Ham are passing it around at the back and Ogbonna gets caught taking his time by Stanic, who nips in, goes one-on-one with Fabianski and slots past the goalkeeper.

GOAL! WEST HAM 1-1 BACKA TOPOLA (PETROVIC OG) 66′ – Benrahma creates space on the left with some quick feet and crosses to the back post where Petrovic – under pressure from Kudus – diverts into his own net.

GOAL! WEST HAM 2-1 BACKA TOPOLA (KUDUS) 70′ – This time the goal belongs to Kudus! Ward-Prowse’s corner is headed into the far corner by Kudus, unmarked eight yards out.

GOAL! WEST HAM 3-1 BACKA TOPOLA (SOUCEK) 82′ – Soucek meets a Ward-Prowse corner at the near post and heads beyond the helpless goalkeeper.

• Ward-Prowse has five assists and two goals in his first five games for West Ham.
• All 11 players who started for Backa Topola are Serbian.
• West Ham have won eight home matches on the spin in Europe.