Declan Rice goal sparks clashes between West Ham and Rapid Vienna fans, Hammers go on to win Europa League clash

Police were called in to separate West Ham and Rapid Vienna fans after Declan Rice’s Europa League opener sparked an angry reaction from the away end.

West Ham cruised to an easy 2-0 win with goals from Rice and Said Benrahma either side of a penalty scare.

Police and stewards had to stop supporters from going too far

Rice could only momentarily celebrate before noticing the chaos in the corner

However, most of the game’s drama came off the field with some uncomfortable scenes developing in the away end after Rice opened the scoring.

Rice looked delighted with a rare goal from defensive midfield, but his celebrations were ruined by some ugly scenes at the near corner flag with a group of police officers and stewards trying to stop any chaos unfolding.

A small number of Rapid fans appeared to have broken over the barrier at the London Stadium, only to be contained by officials, while objects were thrown from both sides.

Things appeared to calm down relatively quickly, but Rapid supporters continued to intervene in the match, throwing objects at Aaron Cresswell as he lined up to take a corner.

That is a brilliant team goal from West Ham!

Declan Rice scores again in the Europa League, but it’s all about the control and pass from Michail Antonio…

Lovely stuff!#UEL pic.twitter.com/vY1Mgj4z8c

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 30, 2021

Hammers fans looked like they were winding up the away end after the goal

West Ham’s early patience and confidence paid off when Andriy Yarmolenko spotted Michail Antonio with a perfectly dinked pass.

Antonio’s control and pass was just as well executed, leaving Rice with an easy tap-in.

Rapid started the second half in more confident fashion, and appeared to have received a confidence boost when David Moyes made a triple substitution in the 62nd minute.

The Austrian side grew into the game and looked to have won a penalty when Marco Grull went down following a challenge in the box from Ben Johnson.

A glance at the monitor showed Grull had decided to hit the deck.

Referee Tobias Stieler confidently pointed to the spot, but was called to his VAR monitor with replays showing the faintest of contacts, and the decision was overturned.

West Ham steadied themselves after the scare, and should have quickly put the game to bed when substitutes Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen linked up.

Fornals found the forward with a perfect pass, leaving Bowen one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

However, keeper Paul Gartler managed to disrupt Bowen, who carried the ball round before sending a shot high and wide whilst off balance.

Bowen worked himself a second chance but was caught well off balance as he missed the target

West Ham appeared to have killed off any threat from their Austrian opposition, but a one-goal lead was still in the balance until Said Benrahma had his say in stoppage time.

A pass from Bowen looked like it was heading for Fornals, but Benrahma stole it before jinking into the box and curling in smartly.

The win leaves West Ham three points clear at the top of Group H, and well on their way to continuing the David Moyes revolution into the European knockouts.