Michail Antonio and Declan Rice helped West Ham to one of their favorable football results of the Europa League with a 2-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb. This was their first appearance in Europe since 2006/07. Their opponents Zagreb is the toughest team in Group H which bodes well for their chances of making the knockout stage.
Michail Antonio gave West Ham the lead in the 21 st minute after capitalizing on a backpass. Declan Rice doubled the lead for the Hammers with a brilliant solo run in the 50th minute. Kurt Zouma produced a brilliant defensive performance on his first start for the club.
“I was really pleased with the way the players played. Zagreb has a really good history in European football so I knew it was going to be a tough game and the players were made aware of that.” West Ham boss David Moyes said. “It’s something new for us, certainly to someone like Declan Rice who’s played for his country but not in Europe for his club, so it’s something he’s going to have to get used to as it is for most of the players here.”
“I’m really excited about the prospect of slightly not knowing how good they could be. We brought in some new players tonight and didn’t look any the worse for it,” he added. “Bigger challenges will come and my target is still to still be in Europe after Christmas when other teams come in. It’s only one game, but the players are in a good place.”
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