Danny Ings’ landmark goal earns West Ham Conference League draw with Gent

Danny Ings scored the first European goal of his career but West Ham’s winning streak on the continent this season was ended by a 1-1 draw away at Belgian side Gent.

Ings tucked away Jarrod Bowen’s cross on the stroke of half-time – thanks in no small part to a Gent ball boy – to give them the lead in the first leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-final. West Ham’s defending let them down after the break as they allowed Gent forward Hugo Cuypers to equalise, leaving the tie finely poised.

The Hammers may be struggling in the Premier League, but their European exploits have raised hopes that a largely disappointing season could end with a first major trophy in 43 years. David Moyes’ side came into this game with a perfect 10 out of 10 win record in the Conference League this season, but struggled to maintain that form.

It was a ragged first half from the visitors, with Ben Johnson making a timely block to prevent Cuypers from firing home while both Kamil Piatkowski and Joseph Okumu headed over from corners. West Ham thought they had taken the lead, against the run of play, when Gent keeper Davy Roef dropped Bowen’s corner under pressure from Nayef Aguerd, but a VAR check spotted a handball from the Morocco defender.

West Ham did edge in front on the stroke of half-time when Vladimir Coufal caught Gent napping with a quickly-taken throw. The right-back found Bowen in the box and his cross was tapped in at the far post by Ings, making his first European start since October 2015, when the forward was at Liverpool.

Moyes has fallen foul of ball boys in Europe before – he was sent off for kicking a ball at one in last season’s semi-final defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt – but he will have been grateful to the local