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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Malik Ouzia

West Ham players ratings vs Backa Topola: Maxwel Cornet comes good as Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell labour

West Ham struck late once again to beat Backa Topola on Thursday night.

Substitute Maxwel Cornet, not given a start despite David Moyes' heavy rotation of his line-up in Serbia, came off the bench to deliver the cross for Tomas Soucek to net at the death.

The 1-0 win sends West Ham into the knockout rounds of the Europa League.

However it was far from a straightforward night as some players struggled at TSC Arena.

Here's how West Ham rated in Serbia...

Lukasz Fabianski 6

Made a bit of a meal of one early stop but sharp to deny Milos Milanovic.

Ben Johnson 4

Handed only his second start of the campaign. Made an important early block on Nemanja Petrovic but looked, unsurprisingly, short of sharpness.

Konstantinos Mavropanos 5

Some good anticipation but passing remains a concern. Couldn't quite get to a James Ward-Prowse free-kick late on.

Nayef Aguerd 6

A solid enough display and tried to pass through the lines.

Aaron Cresswell 4

Got away with dreadful square pass that gifted Serbians their best opening of first-half.

James Ward-Prowse 6

Free-kick created best chance of the first-half but Soucek couldn't hit target.

Tomas Soucek 6

You'd have expected him to do better with header just before the break but continued his fine scoring form with a vital late goal.

Pablo Fornals 5

A victim of his own versatility, Spaniard played off the right but struggled to get involved. Booked.

Lucas Paqueta 6

Always likeliest to create a chance from open play.

Said Benrahma 4

His 150th West Ham appearance was one to forget as he regularly squandered decent positions.

Divin Mubama 5

Handed only his second senior start after impressive cameo at Burnley but short on service here.

Substitutes

Maxwel Cornet (Benrahma 67') 6

Superb delivery created Soucek winner.

Danny Ings (Mubama 67') 5

Biggest contribution was conceding a free-kick off the ball that brought an end to a promising attack.

Thilo Kehrer (Johnson 79') N/A

Emerson (Cresswell 79') N/A

Booked.

Unused: Areola, Anang, Zouma, Ogbonna, Scarles, Coventry, Orford, Chesters.

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