Europa League: West Ham remain unbeaten with win over Genk; Lyon, Napoli secure victories

Paris: West Ham took control of Group H in the Europa League thanks to Thursday’s 3-0 home win over Genk. Craig Dawson scored late in the first half before Issa Diop and Jarrod Bowen helped the Hammers to go six points clear. “The main thing is topping the group. The home games are vitally important. We want to win away too,” Bowen told BT Sport. “If we can stay strong, keep the confidence then I think teams will be fearing us. We could be the team to look out for. We’re only a few games away from a big cup run,” he added. Elsewhere in the group Rapid Vienna beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 to open their account in the competition. Lyon have also made a perfect start to the European campaign and came from behind to edge Sparta Prague 4-2. The French side, who finished the final quarter of an hour with 10 men after teenager Malo Gusto was sent off, trailed 2-0 early on. Cameroon’s Karl Toko Ekambi with a double, France’s Houssem Aouar and Brazilian Lucas Paqueta then responded to claim the victory. “The first 20 minutes were very difficult,” Haouar told RMC Sport. “We have a lot of talent up-front, so we knew how to score after. It proves all the quality we have,” he added.

West Ham in Europe this season = 👏👏👏

✅ 3 wins
⚽️ 7 goals scored
🚫 0 goals conceded #UEL pic.twitter.com/tLbDaJbkwS

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) October 21, 2021

Osimhen on form Serie A leaders Napoli secured their first European win of the season overcoming the previously unbeaten Legia Warsaw 3-0. Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen took his goal tally to nine for the campaign after Lorenzo Insigne had broken the deadlock for the Italians. Italy midfielder Matteo Politano then rubbed salt into the Polish wounds with a third in added time. Monaco remain top of Group B as 21-year-old midfielder Sofiane Diop claimed an 89th winner in the 2-1 success over PSV Eindhoven. Austria’s Sturm Graz remain pointless after three rounds after Sweden’s Alexander Isak scored a second half winner in Real Sociedad’s 1-0 win. Fenerbahce were denied a first win of the campaign as Pieter Gerkens scored with half an hour left to claim a 2-2 draw for Antwerp. Marseille were held 0-0 at Lazio as Italy’s Ciro Immobile hit the woodwork for the hosts. After the match, the French club released a statement saying they “reserved the right” to make an official complaint after Senegalese striker Bamba Dieng was reportedly the victim of racist abuse from home fans. On Wednesday, Zambia striker Patson Daka scored four goals as Leicester revived their campaign by fighting back from two goals down to beat Spartak Moscow 4-3. On Tuesday, Celtic beat Ferencvaros 2-0 in front of a crowd of more than 50,000 at Celtic Park despite a 1530 local time (1430GMT) kick-off. The Hungarians were due to travel to Scotland in two weeks’ time, but policing requirements for the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow forced the fixture to be switched.