West Ham United extended their lead at the top of Group B in the Conference League thanks to a narrow 1-0 victory over Anderlecht. The Hammers continue their best-ever start to a European campaign having now won five successive continental fixtures.The East Londoners were hoping to put a shaky start to the season behind them, building on a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend, but they were made to work for it in Belgium. There were openings at both ends during the first half, with Saïd Benrahma presented with several half-chances for the visitors, while Fábio Silva and Yari Verschaeren came closest for Anderlecht. Undoubtedly, the opportunity of the half came just minutes before the break, when the aforementioned Benrahma blazed over the bar following a direct run and cut-back from Jarrod Bowen.The game remained wide open after the restart, with Silva and Benrahma spurning chances for their respective sides. However, the Hammers soon upped the ante in search of the opening goal, taking control of the game with sustained pressure on the hosts’ backline. The introductions of Declan Rice, Lucas Paquetá, and Gianluca Scamacca for the final 20 minutes made David Moyes’ intentions abundantly clear, and they paid dividends as each played a role in West Ham’s winner little over 10 minutes from time. A long diagonal from Rice was nodded down into Paquetá’s path, allowing the Brazilian to find Scamacca, who neatly tucked his effort inside the far post.With time running out, Alphonse Areola produced a pivotal reflex save to deny Silva’s bullet header and claim a sixth victory in nine matches for the Hammers. Meanwhile, Moyes extends his personal unbeaten European record on the road to nine encounters. As for Anderlecht, although not unexpected, defeat further intensifies the scrutiny on under-pressure boss Felice Mazzù as his side look to reach the knockout stages of a European competition for the first time since 2016/17.Elsewhere, an understrength Villarreal team coasted to victory against Austria Vienna, meaning the Spanish team maintain their 100% record in Group C. It was another goal frenzy for El Submarino Amarillo in their temporary home of Estadi Ciutat de València, as they have now scored four or more goals in each of their four ‘home’ victories in the stadium.Unai Emery once again gave his second-string players a chance to impress in the UECL, and it was instantly clear that Samuel Chukwueze was ready to take advantage of the opportunity. It was the unfortunate luck of Austria Vienna full-back Dario Kreiker, making his European debut, to be the man tasked with stopping the tricky Nigerian, and it was the steepest of learning curves for the 19-year-old. Time and again Chukwueze jinked and jived beyond his marker, and in the 18th minute he finished a mazy run with a deep cross which found Álex Baena, who had the time to bring the ball down and score with a delicious finish from the corner of the six-yard box.Álex Baena for Villarreal 22/23:☑️12 games⚽️7 goals🅰️2 assists📊directly involved in a goal every 76 minutes21 years of age. One of the biggest revelations in Europe this season. 🟡 pic.twitter.com/aKRqTHMJtm— Football Talent Scout – Jacek Kulig (@FTalentScout) October 6, 2022 The Austrian side’s moments of hope were fleeting, but they came close when Dominik Fitz thundered his free-kick against the bar, with Filip Jörgensen well and truly beaten in the Villarreal goal. It would prove to be a false dawn though, as in the final minute of the first half a smart dummy from Manu Morlanes allowed Arnaut Danjuma to drive into the box, and he poked the ball beyond Christian Früchtl to double his team’s lead.𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 🐍⚽@Danjuma #UECL pic.twitter.com/tJfB3tphhi— Villarreal CF English (@VillarrealCFen) October 6, 2022 The away side ensured the second half would be no formality, as first Fitz and then Aleksandar Jukic forced Jörgensen into a couple of nifty saves, although with 20 minutes to go the spark had fizzled out of the mini-revival.The final act belonged to substitute José Luis Morales, who bagged a 12-minute hat-trick. First the veteran forward lofted a 30-yard finish into an empty net as Früchtl needlessly raced out of his goal, before the 35-year-old was on hand to coolly tap home an Étienne Capoue cross, and with just two minutes remaining he was allowed to bag his third. It meant another night without continental success for the Austrian side, who are now 11 European games without a win.Morales!!!! pic.twitter.com/LCfK2plpqE— GoncaloDias17 SCCP (@goncalo_diass17) October 6, 2022 Need someone to score a hat-trick in 12 minutes?📞 Call me.#UECL pic.twitter.com/ZAH2MhqpAK— Villarreal CF English (@VillarrealCFen) October 6, 2022 Far north, Fiorentina defeated Hearts 3-0 at Tynecastle Park, making it Viola’s first away victory in 11 matches.In the first ever meeting between the two sides, the Italians came flying out the traps and took the lead in just the fourth minute. A nice spell of possession was finished after a floating cross into the box from Aleksa Terzić, was nodded in by Rolando Mandragora. It was one-way traffic for much of the first half as Hearts struggled to contain Fiorentina. Luka Jović and Igor both had chances to double their lead but couldn’t steer their efforts in. Hearts did grow into the game as halftime approached, but struggled to create any clear goal scoring chances.🟣 Rolando Mandragora gives Fiorentina the lead against Hearts….@acffiorentina | #UECL pic.twitter.com/tznYJjBgT6— UEFA Europa Conference League (@europacnfleague) October 6, 2022 Just as things were improving for the home side, the Viola went and doubled their lead through a sublime Christian Kouamé bicycle kick. A botched clearance allowed the ball to hang in the air, giving Kouamé time to prepare himself for the acrobatic finish, and send his side into the break with a deserved two-goal lead.Gata, você é tão linda quanto o gol do marfinense Kouame pela Fiorentina na Conference League 🤭 🔥pic.twitter.com/eNfywobpQi— Ponta de Lança (@pontalancapdl) October 6, 2022 Hearts would have wanted to start the second half strongly but all hopes were dashed just a few minutes in as 19-year-old Lewis Nealson was shown a straight red card for pulling Jović down in what looked like denying a goalscoring opportunity. However, replays showed it was a harsh decision as the Viola striker didn’t look like even getting to the ball, however, with no VAR – the decision stood.With a man down, Hearts put up a great fight in containing Vincenzo Italiano’s side, but the visitors added a third in the 79th minute, capping off a fine counter attack. Lucas Martínez Quarta drove up the pitch from his own half before playing the ball wide to Kouamé, who squared it to Jovic for an easy tap-in – capping off an easy victory. The win for Fiorentina is their first in the group stage of the UECL as they move up to second, one place above Hearts. The two sides meet again in a week’s time in Florence.UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE – GROUP STAGERound 3Thursday Slovacko – Nice 0-1 (0-0)/Pepe 54/Dnipro-1 – Vaduz 2-2 (1-1)/Dovbyk 5, Pikhalyonok 78 – Fehr 26, Gasser 47/Silkeborg – FCSB 5-0 (3-0)/Klynge 3, Kusk 7, Helenius 35, Thordarson 58, Adamsen 71/Pyunik – Zalgiris 2-0 (1-0)/Juninho 43, Otubanjo 61/Anderlecht – West Ham 0-1 (0-0)/Scamacca 79/Lech Poznan – Hapoel B.S. 0-0Sivasspor – Ballkani 3-4 (1-2)/Ulvestad 1, Yesilyurt 75, Yatabare 90+1 – Thaqi 20, Potoku 31, Korenica 66, Krasniqi 90+4/Molde – Shamrock 3-0 (1-0)/Brynhildsen 10, 49, Hussain 58/Koln – Partizan 0-1 (0-1)/Markovic 9/Villarreal – Austria Vienna 5-0 (2-0)/Baena 18, Danjuma 43, Morales 76, 80, 88/Basel – Slovan B.0-2 (0-2)/Pauschek 35, Cavric 45+1/Slavia Praha – Cluj 0-1 (0-1)/Janga 45/AZ Alkmaar – Apollon Lim. 3-2 (1-1)/Odgaard 16, de Wit 62, Karlsson 85 – Jootsen 19, Cabral 71/Hearts – Fiorentina 0-3 (0-2)/Mandragora 4, Kouame 42, Jovic 79/Gent – Djurgarden 0-1 (0-1)/Danielson 37/Rigas – Basaksehir 0-0©FlashScore
