Europa Conference League highlights, round-up: West Ham, Slavia survive scares

There were some thrilling comebacks and entertaining contests as the 2022/23 UEFA Europa Conference League group stage continued.

UEFA.com rounds up the Matchday 2 action.

Silkeborg 2-3 West Ham

West Ham made it two wins from two after an entertaining encounter in Denmark.

Silkeborg took an early lead through Kasper Kusk, but Manuel Lanzini's penalty was followed by goals from Gianluca Scamacca and Craig Dawson before the break.

West Ham looked comfortable until Søren Tengstedt pulled one back and they were grateful for a great save from Alphonse Areola to deny impressive substitute Tonni Adamsen.

Key stat: All three of Gianluca Scamacca's West Ham goals have come in this competition.

Slavia Praha 3-2 Ballkani

Last year's quarter-finalists Slavia twice came from behind to seal their first Group G win.

Kosovan champions Ballkani went ahead when Ermal Krasniqi fired in, but the hosts levelled via Stivi Frasheri's own goal.

Meriton Korenica restored the visitors' lead with a thumping finish before Peter Olayinka hit back with a fine strike and then turned provider for Lukáš Masopust to score the fifth goal of a thrilling opening half.

Slavia dominated the second period but were unable to add to their tally, even after Astrit Thaqi's late dismissal.

Key stat: Olayinka's goal was his 13th in European competition for Slavia, overtaking Tomáš Došek as the club's leading scorer in UEFA matches.

Köln 4-2 Slovácko

Köln secured their first win in Group D after an electrifying win against Slovácko.

The home side took the lead through Sargis Adamyan and Florian Dietz doubled their advantage before half-time.

Two goals in three minutes from Jan Kalabiška and Milan Petržela drew the visitors level after the interval but Dejan Ljubicic restored Köln's lead from the spot, rounding off the victory with his second of the night.

Key stat: Köln's victory means they have won all three of their encounters against Czech opposition.

Best of the rest

• Pyunik made history with a 2-0 success against Slovan Bratislava in Yerevan. Artak Dashyan and Yusuf Otubanjo struck in the space of 90 seconds towards the end of the first half to seal Armenia's first group stage victory in any UEFA competition.

• Unai Emery's Villarreal made it six points from two games with a narrow win at Israeli side Hapoel Beer-Sheva thanks to a penalty equaliser from Morales and Álex Baena's spectacular bicycle kick midway through the second half. The Yellow Submarine could even afford to spurn a penalty deep into second-half added time via substitute Arnaut Danjuma.

• Hearts registered their first group win in UEFA competition since November 2004 with a 2-0 success against Latvian outfit RFS in Riga thanks to Lawrence Shankland's 43rd-minute penalty and Alan Forrest's added-time strike.

All the Matchday 2 results

Group A: RFS 0-2 Hearts, İstanbul Başakşehir 3-0 Fiorentina
Group B: FCSB 0-0 Anderlecht, Silkeborg 2-3 West Ham
Group C: Lech 4-1 Austria Wien, H. Beer-Sheva 1-2 Villarreal
Group D: Partizan 1-1 Nice, Köln 4-2 Slovácko
Group E: Apollon Limassol 1-3 Dnipro-1, AZ Alkmaar 4-1 Vaduz
Group F: Djurgården 3-2 Molde, Gent 3-0 Shamrock Rovers
Group G: Slavia Praha 3-2 Ballkani, CFR Cluj 0-1 Sivasspor
Group H: Žalgiris 0-1 Basel, Pyunik 2-0 Slovan Bratislava

All the Matchday 3 fixtures (6 October)

Group A: Hearts vs Fiorentina (21:00), RFS vs İstanbul Başakşehir (21:00)
Group B: Anderlecht vs West Ham (18:45), Silkeborg vs FCSB (18:45)
Group C: Lech vs H. Beer-Sheva (18:45), Villarreal vs Austria Wien (21:00)
Group D: Slovácko vs Nice (18:45), Köln vs Partizan (21:00)
Group E: Dnipro-1 vs Vaduz (18:45), AZ Alkmaar vs Apollon Limassol (21:00)
Group F: Molde vs Shamrock Rovers (18:45), Gent vs Djurgården (21:00)
Group G: Sivasspor vs Ballkani (18:45), Slavia Praha vs CFR Cluj (21:00)
Group H: Pyunik vs Žalgiris (18:45), Basel vs Slovan Bratislava (21:00)