Carlton Cole has praised Said Benrahma on Twitter for showing why he is ‘so highly thought of’ with two goals as West Ham United drew with Genk in the Europa League on Thursday.
David Moyes’ Irons travelled to Belgium looking to maintain their perfect run in the group stage so far this season. West Ham had won each of their opening three games in what is their first appearance in the proper stages.
But their run ended at the Cegeka Arena after a late own goal by Tomas Soucek drew the Blauw-Wit level. Benrahma had given West Ham the lead five-minutes earlier, after pulling them level following Joseph Paintsil’s fourth-minute opener for Genk.
Paintsil capatilised on the Hammers’ slow start and met Junya Ito’s pass to fire a low strike past Alphonse Areola. But Benrahma would be the star of the show, first drawing West Ham level from Vladimir Coufal’s cutback before a superb solo effort in the closing stages.
Manuel Lanzini freed Coufal to charge down the right before picking out Benrahma on the edge of Genk’s box. With the £23k-a-week Algerian slotting home before working his magic to beat Mujaid Sadick, break into the area and drill home at the near post under duress.
Benrahma thrills Cole in West Ham draw vs Genk
Benrahma thrilled Cole with his efforts at Genk, with the former West Ham star feeling the midfielder proved his class.
“Strong performance on our travels,” Cole wrote. “Genk showed that they are decent team and West Ham had to show some fight to get back in to the game.
“Benrahma showed why he’s so highly thought of with his two goals of high quality. West Ham desperately unlucky not to win.”
Benrahma has now scored six goals in 15 games this season, including three in West Ham’s Europa League fixtures. The 26-year-old has also provided three assists, to better his goal involvements from last season (one goal, seven assists) after a £30m move from Brentford.
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