Pablo Fornals sealed the tie in stoppage time to help West Ham produce one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the UEFA Conference League. West Ham demonstrated they had learned their lesson with a calm effort to see out the tie after being eliminated in the Europa League semi-finals a little over a year ago following a foolish performance against Eintracht Frankfurt in the second leg. The final of the Europa Conference League will take place on Wednesday, June 7 in Prague. Fiorentina, which defeated Basel in the second semifinal with a goal in the 129th minute, will play David Moyes’ team. If West Ham can win their first major title since 1980, they would qualify for the Europa League next season. They are currently 15th in the Premier League.
Despite having a slim lead from the first leg, West Ham was able to sit back and absorb the Dutch team’s onslaught. Only managing two attempts on target for the whole game, AZ did not put the visitors much under pressure. Before Pablo Fornals, a replacement, put the Hammers in the final with a stoppage-time winner, Lucas Paqueta came close to scoring in the first half when he struck the post. Violence broke out in the stands when enraged AZ fans targeted a section of the stadium where West Ham players’ friends and relatives were seated, marring the displays of celebration at the end of the game.
As AZ Alkmaar was content to control possession, West Ham was able to build up on the counterattack thanks to their first-leg lead. However, the Dutch team exhibited passivity and found it difficult to dismantle the Hammers. In the first 45 minutes, tension was evident as neither team managed to register a shot on goal. While West Ham hurried their passing in transition, misfiring passes for Michail Antonio on many occasions that may have been promising opportunities, Jarrod Bowen grabbed at a chance from the outside of the box to send it wide.
There were few more noteworthy moments for either team as West Ham withstood a late AZ onslaught to go into the break level. Paqueta came close for the Hammers, though, as he struck a post with a curling attempt just inside the box. Play restarted with the home team pressing considerably harder, forcing Alphonse Areola into two saves to stop long-range attempts from Sven Mijnans and Pantelis Hatzidiakos. Declan Rice’s long-range attempt was also well stopped by Mat Ryan, a former custodian for Brighton and Arsenal.
Fortunately for him, Areola was able to sprint across and clear as Thilo Kehrer’s attempted back ball almost made its way into the goal to draw the game for AZ. When Areola came to collect a long pass forward, he almost made a fatal mistake and fumbled the ball, but the referee spared him and ruled it a foul. Then, in stoppage time, substitute Fornals took advantage of his fresh legs to break through the weary AZ defense and score with a crisp finish to put the tie out of reach and guarantee West Ham’s place in the championship game.
“We’re overjoyed. It’s a significant victory for West Ham. Getting to any final is challenging enough; let alone a European final. We made it to the semifinals the previous year, and while you would think that was an exception if we did it again, we might have been very close. The key right now is to go win the championship,” West Ham boss David Moyes said. “The first leg was certainly a shock to us because of how AZ performed at times. Dutch football is pretty fantastic, and AZ plays with a really nice style. I was aware that we likely had three or four counterattack opportunities where we might have performed better, but we didn’t settle down a little deeper and wait for them. Although to be fair, they are highly skilled at what they do, we would have liked to wrestle more possession from them.”
“I’m sure every West Ham supporter is happy after the poor Premier League season we’ve had,” West Ham captain Aaron Cresswell said. “Personally, I’m feeling sensitive. It’s an enormous accomplishment for this club to be in the final. Let’s hope we can take it one step further because it’s been a while. We were aware of what they stood for. They have some strong players and are a solid possession-based club, so we knew from the first leg that if we can keep it close, we can win. Although we had a few chances to score, we were unable to do so. Excellent defensive play, perfect record, and what a manner to win it in the last seconds.”
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