Hugo Cuypers' 26th-minute opener for Gent came amidst a subdued opening spell of the game from the hosts, subsequently quieting the expectant London Stadium crowd and causing real concern that a quite serious upset began developing.
However, with West Ham behind on aggregate for the first time in this UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final tie, the Hammers responded to the threat of their further progression with style.
Michail Antonio's header ensured the two teams headed into the break level, but it was shortly after the restart when David Moyes' team ran rampant.
Lucas Paqueta's composed penalty, Declan Rice's superb solo run and Antonio doubling his tally all within the space of eight second-half minutes ensured that just after the half-hour mark, West Ham could already start thinking ahead towards Sunday's crucial trip to Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Here are some of the main talking points following another memorable European night at London Stadium, as West Ham ran out 4-1 winners on the night [5-2 on aggregate]:
Rice solo steals the show
Rice's 58th-minute goal, the hosts' third of the evening, was a special effort from an undoubtedly equally special player.
Once the West Ham captain dispossessed Kamil Piatkowski just outside of the hosts' box and the Gent centre-back stumbled after tangling with Paqueta, Rice's distant path towards goal was clear.
The midfielder powerfully drove into the visitors' half, with Julien de Sart's recovery run powerless to keep up with the marauding England international.
As he approached the Gent box, he turned Joseph Okumu inside out with a simple, yet effective, shuffle onto his right foot and subsequent sharp exit back onto the outside. Rice then completed a low finish into the far corner with his left foot, precisely to the side of the advancing Davy Roef.
As the ball rolled into and rippled the back of the net, the London Stadium crowd was sent into ruptures – few, if any, goals were celebrated as much or caused as significant of an eruption of noise and adorative awe at the ground this season than Rice's solo effort.
Even though Paqueta's individual performance or Antonio's second goal of the evening may have taken the headlines on another day, there is little doubt that the Hammers' captain's moment of brilliance will be the resounding, stand-out memory of last night's game.
Second successive European semi-final
For the second season in a row, West Ham have reached the semi-final of a European competition – still, a statement which seems quite challenging to process.
Just like last season, West Ham will enter their upcoming tie against AZ Alkmaar as the favourites to progress into the final. Another parallel to be drawn towards last season's UEFA Europa League semi-final meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt is that the Hammers will have to negotiate the challenge of travelling away for the second leg.
A raucous atmosphere at Deutsche Bank Park, boosted by Frankfurt's 2-1 win in London, proved to be a challenge too steep for last season's West Ham squad to overcome. Aaron Cresswell's early red card in Germany effectively ended their dreams of a Europa League final and meant that such a memorable run, featuring wins over the likes of Sevilla and Lyon, ultimately, fizzled out.
However, it may be argued that the first-leg home defeat was where that tie was truly lost. Therefore, this time around, West Ham have to ensure they earn a positive result to take to Alkmaar following AZ's visit to London on 11 May.
Even though they have five crucial Premier League games to focus on in the immediate future, once that day comes, it will be intriguing to see whether the negative memories and experience of last season's painful exit at this stage will help or hinder the Hammers in their bid to reach a much-desired European final.
Belgian clubs prove no match for Hammers
Gent joined both Genk and Anderlecht on the list of Belgian clubs to face West Ham in European competitions over this and last season.
While both of the latter were group stage adversaries for West Ham in last season's UEL and this season's UECL campaign, a similarity between all of them was that none have been able to overcome the Premier League side in a single contest.
Four wins and two draws, including an aggregate home fixture score of 9-2 over three games, represents a great return for the Hammers and a struggle for Belgian clubs on their short travels to London.
It goes towards proving the level of depth in quality throughout the Premier League and its clubs, that a side which had consistently been unable to even come close to earning the right to play continental football is now in a position to turn on the style against very well established, European competition regulars.
Gent, Genk and Anderlecht will rightfully argue that they can only dream of earning the income that the likes of West Ham do domestically - when you compare the Hammers' current squad to theirs, this recent dominance in country-specific clashes probably should not come as a major surprise.
Gent made to rue first-leg wastefulness
Even though in isolation, the final aggregate score suggests that this may have been a fairly comfortable tie for West Ham, it was certainly anything but that.
During last week's first-leg, Gent made full use of just one of their 20 shots at Alphonse Areola, while conceding to one of the visitors' very few real chances – a Danny Ings tap-in from close range.
It did seem that following the full-time whistle in Gent, West Ham got away with a very underwhelming performance and were fortunate to head back home with everything to be decided at London Stadium.
Ultimately, a win at home and a lead to protect last night may have led to a very different outcome in the second-leg – something which should serve as a further point for West Ham to remember come their eventual semi-final first-leg in this competition.
