Six from six for Moyes as Fornals double keeps Hammers perfect

Manager's faith in youth is rewarded as teenage duo impress in 3-0 victory in Romania

HAPPY HAMMERS: West Ham's Pablo Fornals, right, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Europa Conference League, group B, soccer match between FCSB and West Ham United at the National Arena stadium in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022. Pic: AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

FCSB 0 WEST HAM 3 

DAVID Moyes was rewarded for his decision to put his faith in youth as his West Ham side wrapped up the Europa Conference League group campaign with a sixth-successive win.

Pablo Fornals scored twice but it was the performance of debutants Divin Mbuma - harshly denied when the Hammers’ second goal was given as a Joyskim Dawa own goal - and Oliver Scarles that gave most cause for satisfaction in a comfortable win. 

Already assured of topping the group and a place in the last 16, Moyes bolstered his matchday squad with a number of young players. Mubama, 18, and 16-year-old Scarles, who became the sixth youngest player to represent the Hammers, started while the substitutes bench contained six players hoping to make their first senior appearance.

Yet there was no sign of first night nerves from Scarles and Mubama as Moyes’s side eased their way into the game and the pair combined to create a clear opportunity midway from the first half. The wing-back delivered an excellent low cross into the six-yard area and Mubama was unfortunate to see his close-range effort saved by Stefan Tarnovanu.

That wasn’t the first time Mubama had found space in front of the home goal as the visitors began to dominate. Flynn Downes, the only survivor from the side that started Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Manchester United, was denied by another good Tarnovanu save when he attempted to guide a dipping cross inside the far post but a breakthrough appeared imminent.

It came five minutes before the interval when a long ball forward from Ben Johnson allowed Fornals to run behind the home defence and strike a first-time shot beyond Tarnovanu.

Moyes’s side might have doubled their lead immediately before the break when Nayef Aguerd’s deflected header was cleared off the line. They didn’t have long to wait for the second though with Mubama meeting Vladimir Coufal’s cross with a far post header that deflected in off Dawa.

Scarles was unable to join his debutant on the scoresheet but he did play a central role in Fornals’s second goal. The teenager performed impressively on the left and provided the latest in a succession of telling crosses that Tarnovanu was unable to hold and Fornals reacted first to move onto the loose ball and drill a low shot under the keeper.

FCSB (4-3-3): Tarnovanu 6; Pantea 5, Dawa 4, Bouhenna 5, Radunovioc 6; Edjouma 5, Dulca 5 (Radaslavescu 46, 6), Oaida 5 (Olaru 46, 6); Cordea 5 (Stoica 46, 6), Compagno 5 (Rusu 59, 6), Popescu 6 (Coman 59, 6) 6.

Subs not used: Vlad, Cretu, Dumiter, Boboc.

West Ham (3-5–2): Areola 6; Johnson 7 (Casey 77, Ogbonna 6, Aguerd 6; Coufal 6 (Ashby 66, 6), Downes 7 (Potts 66, 6) , Coventry 7, Lanzini 6, Scarles 8; Mubama 8 (Swyer 77, 6), Fornals 8 (Forson 66, 6).

Subs not used: Randolph, Hegyi, Potts, Forbes, Clayton, Orford.

Referee: S Stegemann (Germany) 6