It was a rare show of real emotion from this quiet man, this unassuming manager.
David Moyes ran onto the pitch, towards the joyous West Ham fans, as Jarrod Bowen finished with such exquisite beauty in the final minute of this incredible final. There was disbelief in his face…and pure, unadulterated joy.
He had gone through agonies in a contest he admitted beforehand was the biggest of his entire football career - and those agonies will not have surprised him in the slightest. Nothing has ever come easy in his 45 years in football.
So we can give him that moment in the 90th minute of an outstanding Europa Conference League final which redeemed football after that shocking game between Roma and Sevilla last week. He deserved it.
He was 60 a little over a month ago, and the fact this trophy is his biggest prize shows just how tough it has been for him.
You could see how much it meant to him. The arms raised, that charge across the pitch - he looked and ran like he was 20 years younger. And no wonder.
He did win a Scottish Premier Division title with Celtic in 1982, but wasn’t a regular, and his greatest honour since was a second division title as Preston boss way back at the turn of this century.
So a European final offered so much for a manager who - unless you count the Charity Shield - hasn’t led a team to a trophy since that joyous day with Preston, which announced him as a coach worth watching.
Yet that paucity of honours does no justice to a record which places Moyes amongst the best British managers of his generation…even if he has been always underrated in the 21 years he’s worked at the very top level.
That lack of recognition continues to this day. After twice saving West Ham from relegation when called upon in desperate circumstances, he transformed the club into a European team, with a final following last season’s Europa semi.
Given the club had only been in two European finals in their history before (and no we don’t count the Intertoto Cup or the Anglo-Italian whatever it was), shows how huge it is - and yet still there were murmurs of discontent amongst even the hardcore Irons support.
No wonder he sat on his haunches, a pale figure on the touchline, face almost gaunt, as Said Benrahma prepared to take his penalty, soon after the hour mark in this tense, thrilling final.
No wonder he celebrated at the end with such abandon. He knew what we knew, his managerial career needed that vindication, that moment when the glittering trophy is raised high into the dark night as the spotlights flashed all around.
But before then, it could not be easy. Not for a man who was forced to start his football career as a youth player in Iceland, and has been a scrap every inch of the way since. So it was no surprise Fiorentina equalised.
It could have crushed the London team and their manager. But after a brief moment, he rallied his troops, rallied himself. And the character West Ham showed to overcome that devastating moment…that was pure David Moyes.
So that beautiful moment when he ran onto the pitch, waving his arms wildly…we should all rejoice. His vindication has finally arrived.
