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Hammers took a big step towards the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League Cup with an 'easy peasey' first-leg victory at AEK Larnaca.

The Home team caused some early problems but West Ham grew in confidence and started to resemble a team that had topped their group and were unbeaten in the competition. It was a question of when, not if, Hammers were going to score. An unmarked Antonio expertly headed Said Benrahma's superb left-wing delivery into the right corner on the 36th minute to open the scoring.

Larnaca : Pirić, Casas, Miličević, Tomović, Englezou ©, Mamas, Gus, Oier, Rosales, Jakoliš, Lopes Subs: Toumpas (GK), Stylianidis (GK), Gonzalez, Tričkovski, Faraj, Christoforou, Naoum, H.Andreou, Altman, Nikolić
West Ham : Areola, Kehrer, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell, Rice ©, Lanzini, Downes, Fornals, Benrahma, Antonio Subs: Hegyi (GK), Anang (GK), Johnson, Emerson, Ogbonna, Souček, Paquetá, Cornet, Bowen, Scamacca, Ings

West Ham United's foray in the third tier of European Cup Football continues this evening with the first leg of the fixtures against AEK Larnaca in Cyprus. Although potential Hammers manager Jose Mourinho celebrated like there was no tomorrow when Roma won the ill conceived trophy last year, the truth is that it is a 'Micky Mouse 'Cup that was 'invented' solely as a revenue earner and has little real meaning in the great scheme of things.