A youthful West Ham side beat FCSB 3-0 to become the first team to maintain a 100 per cent record in the group stages of the Europa Conference League.
Hammers boss David Moyes made 10 changes for the trip to Bucharest, handing debuts to teenagers Oliver Scarles, 16, and Divin Mubama, 18, from the start with top spot already wrapped up in Group B.
Pablo Fornals (40, 65) scored either side of Mubama’s header (56) – which was later awarded as a Joyskim Dawa own goal – as West Ham coasted to victory in Romania.
West Ham top Group B after winning all six of their games, with Anderlecht joining them in the knockout stages after sealing second place with a 2-0 win over 10-man Silkeborg, while FCSB finish bottom.
How the Hammers made history in Bucharest
West Ham had a nervy start in Bucharest against FCSB, who came into the game knowing they would finish bottom of the group regardless, with Ben Johnson and Vladimir Coufal making errors in possession at the back.
Pique to retire after final Barcelona game at weekend
When is the Europa League knockout draw?
World Cup 2022 schedule, teams and draw
Transfer Centre LIVE! ‘I just need a pen!’ Martinelli wants new Arsenal deal
Hussain: Pitch may hinder England’s advantage in T20 World Cup progress race
‘An adrenalin you just don’t get tired of’ – Barrera on Hatton show
Burn? Mitchell? Henry? Who could replace Chilwell for England?
EL state of play: Man Utd face play-off, Arsenal seek last-16 progress
Stormzy launches Merky FC to fight racial inequality in football
It was the debutants, Scarles and Mubama, that sparked West Ham into life as the latter nearly finished off a wicked low cross from his team-mate, only to be denied by FCSB goalkeeper Stefan Tarnovanu.
The breakthrough came from a looping long ball by Johnson to Fornals, which the Spaniard finished off with a sweet left-footed half-volley after some poor FCSB defending. Replays showed the goal would not have stood if VAR was in use.
Ten minutes after the break, Mubama thought he had doubled West Ham’s lead with a debut goal, connecting with Coufal’s cross from the right, only for UEFA to put it down as an own goal by FCSB defender Dawa.
Fornals struck again nine minutes later as he took advantage of Tarnovanu’s spill from Scarles’ cross by hammering in the rebound for his second of the night on his 150th West Ham appearance.
West Ham were comfortable enough for Moyes to bring on five more academy graduates – three of which were teenagers – as Freddie Potts, Keenan Forson, Harrison Ashby, Kamarai Simon-Swyer and Kaelan Casey played a part in their boyhood club’s historic group-stage run.
What’s next?
West Ham will play three more games before the World Cup break. They host Crystal Palace on Sunday in the Premier League; kick-off 2pm. They then welcome Blackburn Rovers in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday November 9.
West Ham’s final Premier League game is on Saturday November 12 when they host Leicester; kick-off 3pm.