The Hammers levelled eight minutes later through a Manuel Lanzini penalty after Maxwel Cornet was fouled in the box.

Gianluca Scamacca completed the turnaround in the 25th minute before a Craig Dawson header had West Ham 3-1 up shortly before half-time.

Silkeborg set up a tense finale with 15 minutes remaining when Soren Tengstedt netted on the rebound from Tonni Adamsen's shot after Jarrod Bowen had squandered possession.

But the Premier League side held on to deny the hosts a first point in the group stage of a European competition.

The result means West Ham stay top of Group B, with Romanian side FCSB drawing 0-0 with Belgium outfit Anderlecht in the group's other fixture.

Hammers flying in Europe despite shaky finish

David Moyes' side have made a poor start to the Premier League season with just one win in six games, but this was their fourth successive win in Europe after victories in qualifying.

On an artificial surface at JYSK Park, the Hammers were heavy favourites against the side who finished third in the Danish Superliga last season.

But they fell behind for a second match on the bounce and could have been pegged back to 2-2 in the first half.

Nicklas Helenius headed into an empty net seconds after Portuguese referee Fabio Verissimo had awarded a soft free-kick for a foul on West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

After going into a two-goal lead West Ham dominated for much of the second period before Silkeborg added a second, counter-attacking from a Hammers corner.

With the visitors leading 3-2 Aroela pulled off a brilliant reaction stop to deny Adamsen an 80th-minute leveller, but the Danes could not create any more meaningful chances and West Ham held on.

Their next test comes in three weeks' time when Moyes' team travel to Anderlecht, who sit two points behind them in second place.