West Ham United cruised into the quarter-finals of the Europa Conference League as they dispatched AEK Larnaca 4-0 at the London Stadium on Thursday evening.
How did West Ham reach the quarter-finals?
David Moyes' side held a 2-0 lead on aggregate over the Cypriot side and there were no hiccups for the Hammers thanks to goals from Gianluca Scamacca, Jarrod Bowen and Divin Mubama.
After gifting the opening goal to West Ham's misfiring striker, the visitors were reduced to ten men just before half-time, after Gustavo Ledes saw his yellow card upgraded to red by VAR.
A quickfire double from Bowen put the tie well and truly to bed, before Mubama popped up with his first senior goal after a clever backheel from a corner, to ensure that West Ham would reach the quarter-finals of a European competition for the second season running.
While the goalscorers will steal the headlines at the London Stadium for various reasons, including Scamacca ending his goal drought, Bowen becoming the Hammers' top European scorer and Mubama getting his first for the club, it was arguably Manuel Lanzini who was the top performer on Thursday night.
Was Lanzini the best performer vs AEK Larnaca?
As per Sofascore, the Argentine midfielder would earn an impressive 7.9/10 rating for his performance, with only Bowen (8.3) rated higher of every player to feature in the game.
Despite not featuring regularly in the Premier League this season, with just one top-flight start to his name, the 30-year-old was at the centre of everything good on Thursday evening.
Lanzini would register a phenomenal 126 touches during the 90 minutes, in which he contributed the assist for Scamacca's opener, and contributed 103 passes, three of which were key.
It is perhaps no surprise that he was so influential, as he would play four key passes in his last start for the club, which came in the League Cup defeat against Blackburn Rovers back in November.
He was also unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet, as he contributed three shots in the 90 minutes, compared to the 0.3 he has averaged in his few Premier League outings so far this campaign.
Lanzini also played his part defensively, winning four ground duels and three tackles during the game, with the attacking midfielder no doubt keen to emphasise to Moyes that he can still play a part in the Premier League this season, as the Hammers fight for survival.
Considering he was dubbed "special" last season by Declan Rice after a brace against Crystal Palace, it is something of a surprise that he has featured so little this season, especially given West Ham's woes in the final third.
Moyes will surely have been pleased with his display against Larnaca, with the midfielder deserving of the plaudits after a hugely impressive performance.