West Ham are on the verge of reaching the Europa League knockout stages after Tomas Soucek’s late own goal saw them draw with Genk in David Moyes’ 1,000th match as a manager.

Benrahma fired in from Vladimir Coufal’s smart pull-back to level after the break and then added a delightful individual effort nine minutes from time to seemingly wrap up a win.

But Soucek inadvertently turned a cross into his own net with three minutes left to mean they will have to wait to confirm qualification.

The Hammers had paid for a slow start at Cegeka Arena, with Joseph Paintsil darting onto Junya Ito’s pass and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola unable to keep out the forward’s low strike.

Moyes’ side sit top of Group H on 10 points with two games to play and a win for either side in Thursday’s late fixture between Dinamo Zagreb and Rapid Vienna will see the Hammers through.

Moyes hits the 1,000 mark

Moyes’ first game in management came before England midfielder Declan Rice, the most influential player in his current outfit, was even born, while the rest of his squad are unlikely to remember the Scot taking charge of Preston’s win over Macclesfield in January 1998.

After Everton, Manchester United, Real Sociedad, Sunderland and now the Hammers, Moyes becomes the 35th person on the League Managers’ Association’s list to reach the 1,000-game mark – and for the final six of those matches his side are unbeaten.

There could have been more cause for celebration had the visitors held on to their lead.

Moyes is aiming to take West Ham into the last 16 of a European competition for the first time since the 1980-81 season, when they were knocked out in the Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-finals by eventual champions Dinamo Tbilisi.

But they started slowly in Belgium and went behind to Paintsil’s fourth-minute opener, with Areola then having to keep out a header from Paul Onuachu soon after.

For 20 minutes the Hammers really struggled to get to grips with a side they beat 3-0 in the reverse fixture and, in particular, the movement of Ito, who should have doubled the hosts’ lead following Paintsil’s swift break and cutback.

There were quickfire chances for Benrahma and Rice before the interval and Moyes made a triple switch soon after in a bid to change his side’s fortunes, while also resting forward Michail Antonio for Sunday’s Premier League visit of Liverpool.

They were soon level in the 52nd minute through Benrahma and the forward added a brilliant second eight minutes from time thanks to some clever footwork and a low finish that fizzed beneath goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt.

But Genk, who started the day bottom of the group, did not let up and the unfortunate Soucek headed beyond his own goalkeeper to see the points shared.

Sourced From BBC