West Ham United on Thursday took control of Group H in the UEFA Europa League thanks to a 3-0 home win over KRC Genk.
Craig Dawson scored late in the first half, before Issa Diop and Jarrod Bowen helped the Irons 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.”
Photo: Reuters
Elsewhere in Group H, Rapid Vienna defeated Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 to open their account in the competition.
Olympique Lyonnais 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 brace, France’s Houssem Aouar and Lucas Paqueta of Brazil 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.”
Serie A leaders SSC 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 Italian side.
Italy midfielder Matteo Politano then rubbed salt into the Polish wounds with a third in stoppage-time.
AS Monaco remain top of Group B after 21-year-old midfielder Sofiane Diop claimed an 89th-minute 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 when Pieter Gerkens scored with half an hour left to claim a 2-2 draw for Royal Antwerp.
Olympique de Marseille were held 0-0 at SS Lazio as Italy’s Ciro Immobile hit the woodwork for the hosts.
The French club released a statement saying that they “reserved the right” to make an official complaint after Senegalese striker Bamba Dieng was reportedly the victim of racist abuse from the fans.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was