David Moyes professed his delight to see West Ham qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League knockout stages but warned his side the job is not yet done after a 2-1 victory over Anderlecht.
The Hammers saw off their Belgian Pro League rivals at London Stadium on Thursday thanks to goals from Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen, in a match marred late on by crowd trouble in the stands.
Victory further cements West Ham's place atop Group B with four wins from four, six points ahead of Danish outfit Silkeborg, who they face in a fortnight.
But with sides finishing in first place heading straight to the last-16, and runners-up having to settle for an additional play-off round with teams eliminated from the Europa League, Moyes cautioned there remains work to be done.
"I'm really pleased we've qualified for the next stage," he stated. "The big thing is to always be in Europe still after Christmas.
"[But] the form of Silkeborg at the moment looks a problem given the goals they're scoring, so we still need a point to be winners of the group.
"Hopefully we can do that but winning tonight was important. We deserved to win, but we made it much harder for ourselves than it should've been."
The final act in London - during which Anderlecht scored a late penalty to set up a tense last few minutes - was overshadowed by off-field events, with police required to keep supporters at bay.
Anderlecht subsequently criticised their own supporters in a statement after the full-time whistle, a move Moyes applauded, though the Scotsman was at pains to limit discussion on the matter.
"It's good for the press officer to stand up for the club," he added. "It's a big credit to them as they're a really good football club. They want to protect their own club and rightly so.
"Everyone's focus is taken away when there's crowd trouble in some way. I didn't have any interest in it as it's one of those things you don't want to talk about. I don't want to draw any more attention to it."
Premier League MD6: Lucky winners and unlucky losers
Manchester United were the big losers of matchday six in the Premier League.
Tottenham piled the pressure on Erik ten Hag as they cruised to a 3-0 victory at Old Trafford, where Bruno Fernandes was sent off.
Spurs generated a huge expected goals (xG) figure of 4.59 on Sunday – the third-highest United have allowed a Premier League opponent since such records began in 2009.
Only versus Arsenal in December 2017 (a 3-1 win) and against Manchester City in October 2011 (a 6-1 loss at Old Trafford), have United given up a greater quality of chances in a Premier League match, so it is fair to say Spurs were deserving victors.
But, was that the case across the board this weekend? Who were the unlucky, and lucky, teams?
Lucky winners: Everton
Everton claimed their first victory of the season on Saturday, as Dwight McNeil scored a quickfire second-half double to propel the Toffees to a 2-1 comeback defeat of Crystal Palace.
Marc Guehi had nudged in from an early set-piece for Palace, but Oliver Glasner's team - who remain winless - were undone by some McNeil magic.
The former Burnley man curled a sumptuous long-range equaliser home in the 47th minute, with his strike coming from an xG value of just 0.02. McNeil then lashed home a second from close range, though those efforts were two of only eight shots the hosts managed at Goodison Park.
Indeed, Sean Dyche's team accumulated just 0.89 xG, so based on the quality of opportunities they created, it's fair to say they were fortunate to win, especially when factoring in Palace's 17 shots and 0.95 xG - essentially, it should probably have finished 1-1.
Lucky winners: Brentford
The Bees did not take all three points against West Ham, but they were arguably lucky to get a point from a match that finished 1-1.
Not that West Ham were by any means brilliant, but Brentford only mustered 0.37 xG throughout the contest on Saturday.
Indeed, they took the lead through Bryan Mbeumo's acrobatic attempt in the first minute. Brentford are the first team in Premier League history to score in the opening 60 seconds in three successive matches.
Tomas Soucek equalised for West Ham, who finished with 0.99 xG and had 18 shots to Brentford's eight, so the Hammers can consider themselves a bit unfortunate not to come away as 1-0 victors.
Unlucky loser: Nicolas Jackson
Jackson did not have a bad day by any means as Chelsea beat Brighton 4-2 at Stamford Bridge, as Cole Palmer became the first player in Premier League history to score four goals in a first half.
Yet Jackson should really have got in on the act. He had a shot cleared off the line in the second half, and overall accumulated 1.37 xG, which ranked as the third-highest total for any player across the Premier League over Saturday and Sunday's matches.
Jackson had five shots, getting two of those on target, but ultimately could not add his name to the scoresheet.
Popp to bring curtain down on illustrious Germany career
Germany great Alexandra Popp has confirmed her impending international retirement.
Popp, the captain of Germany's women's team, will play her final game for her country on October 28, against Australia.
The 33-year-old has played for Germany since 2010, and has scored 67 goals in 144 appearances.
She won gold at the Rio Olympics and claimed bronze in Paris this year, while also leading Germany at two World Cups and skippering them at the 2022 Euros, in which they reached the final before losing to England.
"I have always stressed that my gut will make the decision, and now it has," Wolfsburg's Popp said in a video posted on social media on Monday.
"After long, tearful deliberations, I have decided with a heavy heart to end my career with the national team. The fire that ignited in me 18 years ago and grew stronger from year to year has now almost burnt out.
"It was always important to me to make this decisive decision myself, from within myself. Neither my body, which is a ticking time bomb, nor another person should get ahead of me.
"Before the fire is completely extinguished - because then it would be too late - the right time has now come."
Popp missed Germany's Euro 2013 success due to injury.
Lopetegui pleased with West Ham character after Brentford draw
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui was pleased with his side’s character as they overcame a poor start to draw 1-1 away to Brentford.
Lopetegui’s side were coming off the back of a comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in their last league game and a 5-1 EFL Cup thrashing at Liverpool in midweek.
Bryan Mbuemo’s goal a minute into the encounter could have spelled the worst for the Hammers, but they recovered well and got back on level terms early in the second half through midfielder Tomas Soucek.
Lopetegui now has something to build upon as his side face a vital match at home to Ipswich Town before the next international break, and their overall performance pleased the Spaniard.
He told BBC Sport: “We showed this [Brentford's record of scoring early] to the players and it's incredible we suffered. It's a bad picture to concede so early.
"We kept calm and I think we deserved to win the match in the second half, we showed character and commitment.
"We had three or four very clear situations to score a second goal but we didn't manage it and we take a point. I have to keep positive.
"We always have to work as a team or we are weaker - I think we did this in the second half."
Brentford manager Thomas Frank was content with a point despite again taking the lead early on, as he continues to deal with injuries in the squad.
“It’s a good point,” said Frank. “I'm always disappointed if we don't get three. We were the better team for 75 minutes.
"West Ham outpowered us for 15 minutes at the start of the second half. If you take into consideration that we have nine first team players out, we had nothing to shoot with.
"What I liked from my team was the mentality. We kept going forward."
Frank could not explain the reason for Brentford netting in the opening minute of three straight games, but he feels it speaks to one of the main principles of his side.
“I can't tell you [the secret]. It must be a world record, three games in a row under 40 seconds - it's unbelievable," he added.
"We had a plan again, it's a mindset of playing forward and trying to get on the game straight away. I'm very pleased with that."
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