Silkeborg 2-3 West Ham: Hammers clinch Conference League victory

West Ham continued their perfect start in the Europa Conference League with a 3-2 victory over Silkeborg in Denmark on Thursday evening.

The Danish side took a surprise lead at JYSK park when Kasper Kusk fired Lukas Engel's cut-back past Alphonse Areola after just five minutes.

The Hammers responded almost instantly as Manuel Lanzini converted from the spot just eight minutes after the hosts' opener.

David Moyes' side then took the lead when summer recruit Gianluca Scamacca powerfully struck from distance on 25 minutes.

And the visitors doubled their advantage via a Craig Dawson header seven minutes before half-time.

The Irons appeared to be cruising in the second half but a goal from Soren Tengstedt in the 75th minute prompted a nervy finish for the English side.

Yet West Ham held on to claim three points in Scandinavia and remain top of Group B.

Hammers captain Declan Rice summed up the hard-fought victory for his side after the game.

He said: "We could've been in control but a nervy last 15 minutes. It's game management, we've got to keep the ball and keep it moving.

"We didn't need to concede that second goal but the main thing is that we won the game. We looked fluid, we really moved the ball well and played between the lines.

"Just disappointing to concede the two goals that we did, I don't think the manager will be too happy about them. He'll tell us that and we know as players they're not good goals to concede."

Goalscorer Dawson made his first start of the season in the victory and also touched on how tough the test was.

He said: "We obviously made it difficult towards the end. The performance wasn't great but it's a difficult pitch to play on.

"At times it was scrappy, a bit sloppy, but we got the three points in the end.

"They're a good side, they play great football and they know the pitch better than us. At times we were sloppy but we got the job done."

The Hammers visit Everton in the Premier League next up on Sunday afternoon.