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West Ham United left it late to secure a 1-0 victory over Olympiacos at the London Stadium on Thursday night.
The Hammers sought revenge after the Greek giants ended their 17-match unbeaten run in Europe two weeks ago and they achieved it through a superb finish inside the box from Lucas Paqueta 15 minutes from time.
It was the Brazilian’s second goal in the Europa League in as many matches after he hit a stunning strike off the bench in the reverse fixture and although it only turned out to be a consolation, his winner tonight has left the Irons one win away from securing qualification into the knockout stages.
Lucas Paqueta’s statistics against Olympiacos
Paqueta is the sort of player that can raise bums off seats but also leave supporters waving their arms in frustration and it’s for that exact reason why David Moyes labelled him as a “maverick”.
He coined that term for him following their 2-1 win over Freiburg on matchday two as the attacking midfielder sprinkled a little bit of samba onto the pitch in Germany.
“Lucas was terrific,” Moyes said. “He drives me mad sometimes but everybody who watched him would have said: ‘This player has got incredible talent’.
“There is a word that goes around, a maverick. He is that for us. It is really important we get him in and adapt to him and accept some of his things.”
While the Scotsman has accepted he has to mould his side around the needs of his Brazilian superstar, it’s performances – like the one tonight – that make it all worth it.
Aside from grabbing the headlines with the winner in front of a packed-out London stadium, he demonstrated every facet of his game, including his boundless pressing, risk tasking in possession and ability to unlock defences.
Lucas Paqueta’s statistics against Olympiacos |
Figure |
---|---|
Touches |
88 |
Key passes |
3 |
Long balls (acc.) |
7 (5) |
Ground duels (won) |
18 (10) |
Aerial duels (won) |
7 (3) |
Interceptions |
3 |
Tackles |
7 |
Stats via Sofascore |
Paqueta’s quality in possession was highlighted by how accurate he was with his long balls and although that desire to take risks in possession saw him lose possession a staggering 32 times, it was the 26-year-old’s incredible work off the ball that made up for his wastefulness on it.
With a sensational ten of his 18 ground duels won and seven tackles, the tempo of West Ham’s display was set by him, however, it was James Ward-Prowse’s wand of a right foot that proved to be the difference again on Thursday night.
James Ward-Prowse’s statistics against Olympiacos
For as long as Ward-Prowse continues to don the claret and blue shirt, people will continue to run out of superlatives to describe him, but his deft chipped pass for Paqueta’s winner wasn’t out of the ordinary for the Englishman – he’s been conjuring up magic from his right boot all season.
The former Southampton man – who “pulled the strings” in midfield as per journalist Dan Woffenden – took his tally to four assists in the competition and an eye-watering nine goal contributions in 14 appearances since arriving from St Mary’s in the summer.
Ward-Prowse has proven throughout his career that he’s a technically gifted player with a vast passing range, vision, and the ability to play high-quality final balls to attackers, with the 29-year-old showcasing those attributes in abundance against the Greek giants..
Having established himself as arguably the most creative force in the Europa League, the ex-Saints skipper produced a truly standout performance last night, completing 90% of his passes and all three of his attempted long balls, while remarkably registering seven key passes and successfully completing five of his seven crosses, as per Sofascore.
That showing unsurprisingly earned the experienced playmaker a stunning 8.9 match rating, as per Sofascore, with that higher than even the aforementioned Paqueta (8.2) achieved despite providing the game’s decisive moment.
The summer signing must now be wondering what he has to do to get into Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions squad after he was left out on Thursday ahead of EURO 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, although as far as his early West Ham career is concerned, it couldn’t be going much better.
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