Backa Topola 0-1 West Ham: Hammers seal qualification for the Europa League knockout stages with a late winner from Tomas Soucek in Serbia

West Ham reached the knockout stages of the Europa League on Thursday evening after a 1-0 win against Serbian side Backa Topola.

David Moyes was without a number of regular first-team players due to injury and illness and their absence was felt as the Premier League team was well below their best.

But in the 89th minute of a match lacking in overall quality, Soucek arrived at the far post and poked home Thilo Kehrer’s last-minute throw.

Freiburg’s resounding victory over Olympiacos had moved the Hammers into second place in the group, meaning they needed a win against the Bundesliga side to qualify as group winners in their final match.

However, with late winners West Ham going into next month’s tie knowing that a draw would see them avoid an unwanted play-off round in February.

More to follow.