Journalist Jonty Colman was left impressed by Jarrod Bowen after his performance during West Ham United’s Europa Conference League victory.
The Hammers recorded a rather comfortable 3-1 victory at home to Danish side Viborg, which saw them take control when it comes to qualification next week, as they just have to avoid defeat by two goals to seal a place in the group stages – and considering they only gave up four shots on target last night, that would appear rather likely.
David Moyes, despite being banned from the touchline for kicking a ball at a ballboy last season in the Europa League, made several changes to the starting lineup, although Bowen was afforded minutes from the beginning as he looked to rediscover his form from last season.
And he appeared to do just that as he got on the scoresheet for the first time this campaign.
Colman was left impressed by what he saw from Bowen as he handed him a 7/10 match rating, saying:
“In the early stages, Bowen had looked good at creating attacks and looked keen to link up with Scamacca, attempting a cheeky chip from distance that almost caught Lund off-guard. Quiet for a spell after that, but did get his first goal of the season brilliantly shortly after that, firing into the bottom corner after latching onto a deflected pass from Soucek. A rifled finish from distance, back at his best with that strike. Taken off shortly after.”
Will West Ham qualify next week?
Yes!
No!
TIF Thoughts on Bowen…
It has been a frustrating start to the season for West Ham and Bowen, as they’re yet to find the back of the net in the Premier League and are only one of three teams yet to have picked up a single point, which is a far cry from their form of the last two seasons in which they’ve qualified for Europe.
There had been talk earlier in the summer about Liverpool being strong admirers of Bowen after his sensational season last time out, although a big-money move for Darwin Nunez appears to have ruled out any potential move. However, questions may arise about his head potentially being turned by media speculation if he fails to hit similar heights as last season.
However, the forward managed to put in a much better performance last night as he recorded a 100% passing accuracy with 19/19 successful passes. Meanwhile, Maxwel Cornet, who also put in an inspired performance as SofaScore’s highest-rated player on the night, only managed a passing accuracy of 77%.