Jacob Steinberg was at the London Stadium to see the Hammers scrape that first-leg lead.
The London Stadium had been a tense, moody place for most of the evening and now, with West Ham finally ahead, the home fans could dream of booking their tickets to Prague next month.
Nobody, of course, should make the mistake of thinking that West Ham are already through to the final of the Europa Conference League. They toiled for long spells against AZ Alkmaar, who led through a sloppy goal from Tijani Reijnders, and David Moyes will need his side to be resilient again when they take a 2-1 lead to the Netherlands for next week’s second leg.
What a night that turned out to be, and all to play for in each tie. West Ham have a lead to protect in their away tie, and Basel, outstanding in the second half against Fiorentina have a lead to protect in their home tie.
In the Europa League, Juventus celebrated their equaliser against Sevilla like a winner while Roma’s game with Bayer Leverkusen was way short of being a classic but Edoardo Bove’s smart finish was exceptional.
Full-time scores:
Europa League:
Juventus 1-1 Sevilla
Roma 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Conference League
West Ham 2-1 AZ
Fiorentina 1-2 Basel
Full-time: Juventus 1-1 Sevilla
Updated
Goal! Juventus 1-1 Sevilla (Gatti, 90+7)
The last-chance saloon. The ball was nodded on for a corner and it was Pogba who set up Gatti who was running towards goal with Milik to head home. They were queueing up.
Updated
Full-time: Roma 1-0 Bayer
Full-time: Fiorentina 1-2 Basel
Updated
Juventus 0-1 Sevilla: Six minutes added on as Juve chase a lifeline. They have been poor tonight.
Updated
Full-time: West Ham 2-1 AZ
Updated
Goal! Fiorentina 1-2 Basel (Zeqiri, 90+3)
From a corner, Basel get the goal that had been coming in the second half, the ball played back across goal and Zeqiri tapping in.
Updated
West Ham 2-1 AZ: Into time added on and a decent result to take over the North Sea is in the Hammers’ possession.
Juventus 0-1 Sevilla: Paul Pogba is on for Juventus, by the way. Again, little is happening for his team in attack. Erik Lamela has replaced his fellow Spurs legend Bryan Gil. Jesus Navas is on, too, for those fans of the Premier League of a decade ago. Navas is the James Milner of Seville.
Updated
West Ham 2-1 AZ: Bowen flashes the ball across goal and Ings and Benrahma fail to read it. That’s a waste and an inquest is taking place between the Hammers attackers.
Roma 1-0 Bayer: Sat in his dugout, rubbing his face ruefully, Jose Mourinho looks nervous. His team are taking him to the well again.
Juventus 0-1 Sevilla: Free-kick in a dangerous position is wasted by Cuadrado. For all the attacking talent Juve have, they’ve created nowhere near enough.
Fiorentina 1-1 Basel: Two Viola subs, including the arrival of Luka Jovic, such a talent at Frankfurt, such a bust at Real Madrid, and still mercurial.
Juventus 0-1 Sevilla: Soccer hardman Bryan Gil has been booked for kicking the ball away.
Updated
West Ham 2-1 AZ: Off goes Antonio for Ings, and he looks both tired and disappointed to have to leave the field.
West Ham 2-1 AZ: The word from the touchline is that Antonio was due to come off for Danny Ings, who is soon to come on. But will he replace the goalscorer?
Goal! West Ham 2-1 AZ (Antonio, 76)
The big man, the standard bearer for so long get his goal. There was chaos from a corner. Aguerd’s header comes in as Rice guides it back in and the rebound falls for Antonio, his 14th of the season. VAR swiftly waved away.
Updated
Juventus 0-1 Sevilla: Rakitic is booked for pulling back Cuadrado, with the sense being that Juve are chucking the kitchen sink at the competition’s serial winners.
Goal! Fiorentina 1-1 Basel (Diouf, 71)
What a goal, Diouf is given the ball on the halfway line, strafes past two defenders and smashes the ball low and hard and the Swiss team are back in it, and deserve to be on the balance of play.
Updated
West Ham 1-1 AZ: That was a beauty of a penalty from Benrahma, whipped into the corner beyond even Ryan’s reach. It’s all West Ham now, with Paqueta starting to call the tune.
Updated
Goal! West Ham 1-1 AZ (Benrahma,67)
Benrahma steps up, short run, and nice finish, for which Ryan had no chance.
Updated
Penalty to West Ham!
Ryan smashes right into Bowen when climbing for the ball. You can’t do that, and West Ham have a lifeline.
Updated
Goal! Roma 1-0 Bayer (Bove, 63)
The breakthrough! Abraham turns and shoots, and then the ball bounces out and Bove keeps his cool to redirect the ball into the net.
Updated
Juventus 0-1 Sevilla: Big loss for Juventus, with Bonucci going off with a groin problem – he grabbed his, well, bits to show that. On goes Gatti, and then another sub. Vlahovic leaves the field angrily, and on comes Milik.
West Ham 0-1 AZ: The Hammers are having one here, an angst-ridden night down at the London. Mat Ryan is really taking his time over goal kicks. That’s been the story of the season, or one of them. Timewasting is rife, the World Cup experiment in adding time having done nothing…
More angst but better when Bowen clatters a shot wide, cutting in from the right to shoot with his left.
Updated
Juventus 0-1 Sevilla: Colin Stevens gets in touch: “Sevilla have been fantastic in the first half against Juve. Great press pinching the ball time & time again. A shot count of 10-3 tells the story. Hope they don’t regret only being 1-0 up. Few boos from the home fans as the teams went off the pitch. Sevilla love this competition.”
Juve are pushing on harder this half but Sevilla still look the masters. Can there be another sporting club that controls a major competition so easily. Meanwhile, Bryan Gil, on the end of a Cuadrado thump, is eating up time by flopping to the floor like the indie-landfill delicate petal he is.
Updated
Fiorentina 1-0 Basel: Xhaka’s corner to Burger to down and over the goal. The closest they’ve come. That’s Taulant Xhaka, who plays for Albania, and played against Granit and Switzerland at Euro 2016.
West Ham 0-1 AZ: Big scramble after a West Ham corner, and plenty of time taken over clearing the detritus of player lying on the floor. David Moyes, at the edge of that huge technical area, is barking away at the linesman.
Roma 0-0 Bayer: Xabi Alonso, looking as young as he did when striding around midfields, urges on his team.
Updated
Juventus 0-1 Sevilla: Two subs made by Max Allegri. Kostic is off, replaced by Illing-Junior, and so is Miretti, off for Enrico Chiesa. Iling-Junior, need I remind you, is Islington born and bred.
Updated
We go again, and at the London Stadium, they’re forever blowing bubbles. Across Europe we are back underway in the second half.
Some player, this lad.
Youssef En-Nesyri hits 16 goals in all competitions in 2023 🔥
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 11, 2023
The same tally as Kylian Mbappe 💥 pic.twitter.com/rVTS90KY8W
Though it’s not been all good news.
3 - Youssef En-Nesyri had three touches against France, the fewest on record (since 1966) by any player to play 45+ minutes in a World Cup match. Isolated. pic.twitter.com/4fOgBC1FMt
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 14, 2022
Half-time in the Europa and Conference Leagues
Two away teams winning, with Sevilla much the better team in Turin, while West Ham are struggling with AZ’s guile. Fiorentina have a deserved lead though Basel remain dangerous on the counter while in Rome, it’s scrappy between Roma and Bayer Leverkusen.
Updated
Half-time: Juventus 0-1 Sevilla
Half-time: Roma 0-0 Bayer
Half-time: West Ham 0-1 AZ
Updated
Roma 0-0 Bayer: Rudi Völler is in the Stadio Olimpico crowd. Again, nobody looks like Rudi Völler.
Half-time: Fiorentina 1-0 Basel
West Ham 0-1 AZ: The tempo increases at the London and so does the noise, though it’s boos and whistles rather than acclaim and applause.
Goal! West Ham 0-1 AZ (Reijnders, 43)
Calamity for West Ham, and after what looked a foul in midfeld, AZ break away, after Paqueta goes down, Reijnders takes on the shot and Areola allows it to bounce and over him. No VAR to the rescue, and the boos ring out. The AZ plan is paying off. And shades of David de Gea in that Areola mistake.
Updated
Fiorentina 1-0 Basel: The Viola continue to look for more goals, while Basel are happy to sit back.
Updated
Roma 0-0 Bayer: Kossounou receives attention for what looks like a nasty muscle injury. Xabi Alonso sends on Bakker as a replacement. Francesco Totti is pictured in the crowd, looking like only Francesco Totti does. Met him once, nice lad.
Updated
West Ham 0-0 AZ: Antonio heads a free-kick goalward but it looks like Bowen got in the way. A VAR check for handball comes and goes.
Juventus 0-1 Sevilla: The Spanish team forced into a sub as Lucas Ocampos comes off with what looks like a muscle problem. Gonzalo Montiel – remember him? – comes on to replace the forward. A rejig in session.
Juventus 0-1 Sevilla: Tottenham fans look away now, as Bryan Gil is looking rather useful for the Spanish team. He had no chance under the beefcake regime that Antonio Conte wanted.
West Ham 0-0 AZ: Very noisy at the London Stadium, as it can get, going against the grain. It can be very quiet, too. But the fans are up for this one, what is an even contest with a decent Dutch outfit. They’re taking their time over dead balls, in a touch of the Howe/Tindall/Simeone school.
Roma 0-0 Basel: There’s a penalty claim in Rome for a foul on Belotti which didn’t look much of a foul. The VAR takes little time to quash its claims.
Goal! Juventus 0-1 Sevilla (En-Nesyri, 26)
It’s on the breakaway, and the Moroccan dangerman is found on the breakaway and makes no mistake.
Updated
Goal! Fiorentina 1-0 Basel (Cabral, 25)
A lovely header, flicked down from a corner and buried.
Updated
West Ham 0-0 AZ: Halfway through the first halves and no goals. West Ham seem keen to play on the break and let their opponent dominate possession.
Fiorentina 0-0 Basel: The Swiss team continue to be very dangerous on the break, Terracciano! making a fine save for the Italian team from Basel’s Diouf.
Juventus 0-0 Sevilla: Two golden chances for Vlahovic, both created by Di Maria. The first he can’t get his foot round, the second he blasts over.
Updated
Roma 0-0 Bayer: It’s getting heated in the Eternal City, tempers boiling over after a Tammy Abraham tackle.
Updated
Kári Tulinius gets in touch: “The other European contest that’s about to start should be a model for the UEFA Europa and Conference Leagues. In Eurovision the same big five as in football get a leg up, but they rarely end up winning the whole thing. Recent decades have seen winners from Finland, Azerbaijan, Austria and Ukraine. It would be fun if that was the case, but so far they’ve been dominated by second and third rank teams from the big five. It would be fun, therefore, to see Basel in the final.”
West Ham 0-0 AZ: What s save from Mat Ryan in AZ’s goal. Benrahma’s shot looked goalbound, only for the Aussie to tip it round. He’s always been a fine keeper.
Juventus 0-0 Bayer: Kostic drags his shot wide in Turin
Fiorentina 0-0 Basel: Let-off for the Viola, after Basel’s Augustin rounds goalkeeper Terracciano to slot into the empty net but VAR overrules it.
West Ham 0-0 AZ: The Dutch team look pretty comfortable in possession as you might expect. West Ham look to get it long to Jarrod Bowen, who is knocked over but no foul given. That starts some extended pressure that ends with Bowen heading over.
Juventus 0-0 Sevilla: Locatelli gets a sighter, but ends up whacking the ball into the stands.
Roma 0-0 Bayer: in Rome, Leverkusen go close in the first 45 seconds.
Updated
And we are off across the Europa and Conference League semis….
Big Tifo on show at the London Stadium, and across all four stadia tonight.
The AZ fans were having fun in Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, today.
Just been sent this of AZ Alkmaar fans congregated near Victoria Park/Hackney Wick. Safe to say they're up for it😂 pic.twitter.com/PTnUdNkNGM
— Fake Fornals ⚒ (@FinallyFornals) May 11, 2023
Juventus are going for a seventh Uefa competition, which seems low for a club of such size and history. Mind you, they have lost in seven European Cup finals.
Warm-ups ✅#JUVSEV 🔜 pic.twitter.com/KgADLQp5Jp
— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) May 11, 2023
Peter Oh is in, too: “David Moyes is a good manager but I don’t know if he can compete with the Spooky & Sue pedigree of the AZ Alkmaar gaffer. With the return of Kurt Zouma, however, there is hope that Soucek & Zou will drop a hip-swaying hit tonight.”
Simon McMahon gets in touch: “Hi John. In a parallel universe, tonight’s game is a ‘Battle of Britain’ between Dundee United and West Ham, after United, having beaten AZ 1-0 at Tannadice in the qualifying round, held on to beat Alkmaar in Holland and then progress through the groups and into tonight’s last four clash. Of course, I’m conveniently glossing over the fact that the return leg ended 7-0 to the home side. Still, dreams are free, right? Come on West Ham (Dundee) United.”
For that Roma game, Pablo Dybala is not risked, so Tammy Abraham will partner Andrea Belotti in attack. That game is a battle of José Mourinho v Xabi Alonso, with memories of Champions League semis from 2005 and 2007.
David Moyes is up for this one, and senses destiny.
He’s made two changes, Kurt Zouma in for Angelo Ogbonna, and Fabianski sits out for Alfonse Areola.
Jacob Steinberg spoke to AZ’s manager.
“I spent major parts of my youth in Aylesbury,” he says. “I haven’t seen one of my dear friends from the time for over 40 years and we’re back in contact since last year. He’s coming to the game with his family and brother. Those are the joyful things of coming back.”
The connection is down to Jansen’s mother, Sue Chaloner, who was one half of Spooky and Sue, a British-Dutch pop duo who had three top-10 hits in the Netherlands in the 70s. She had moved to Amsterdam for work but she was born in London and wanted the same for her son. Jansen understands why there is intrigue about his pop star mum. “She’s 70 and enjoying life,” he says. “She has her own school. She teaches drama, dance and singing. She follows my career. She tells me to follow my dreams and be very passionate. And enjoy it.”
And here’s his mum in action.
Juventus v Sevilla - Europa League - teams
Juventus: Szczesny, Danilo, Bonucci, Alex Sandro, Cuadrado, Miretti, Locatelli, Rabiot, Kostic, Di Maria, Vlahovic. Subs: Chiesa, Pogba, Milik, Gatti, Kean, Pinsoglio, Rugani, Soule, Paredes, Perin, Iling-Junior, Fagioli.
Sevilla: Bounou, Jesus Navas, Bade, Gudelj, Acuna, Fernando, Rakitic, Ocampos, Torres, Gil Salvatierra, En-Nesyri. Subs: Dmitrovic, Montiel, Alex Telles, Rekik, Mir, Lamela, Gomez, Flores, Bueno.
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
Roma v Bayer - Europa League - teams
Roma: Rui Patricio, Mancini, Cristante, Ibanez, Celik, Bove, Matic, Spinazzola, Pellegrini, Belotti, Abraham. Subs: Karsdorp, Smalling, Camara, Dybala, Wijnaldum, Missori, Zalewski, Boer, Tahirovic, Faticanti, El Shaarawy, Svilar.
Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky, Kossounou, Tapsoba, Tah, Frimpong, Palacios, Andrich, Hincapie, Diaby, Wirtz, Hlozek. Subs: Bakker, Azmoun, Demirbay, Amiri, Hudson-Odoi, Adli, Fosu-Mensah, Azhil, Lomb, Neutgens.
Referee: Michael Oliver (England)
Fiorentina v Basel - Conference League - teams
Fiorentina: Terracciano, Dodo, Martinez, Ranieri, Biraghi, Bonaventura, Amrabat, Mandragora, Ikone, Arthur Cabral, Gonzalez. Subs: Jovic, Saponara, Castrovilli, Terzic, Venuti, Cerofolini, Duncan, Bianco, Barak, Brekalo, Igor, Kouame.
Basel: Hitz, Lang, Nuhu, Pelmard, Ndoye, Diouf, Xhaka, Burger, Calafiori, Augustin, Amdouni. Subs: Millar, Salvi, Fink, De Mol, Zeqiri, Essiam, Males, Frei, Vogel, Kade, Novoa.
Referee: Francois Letexier (France)
West Ham v AZ - Conference League - teams
West Ham: Areola, Kehrer, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, Benrahma, Antonio. Subs: Fabianski, Johnson, Fornals, Lanzini, Downes, Cornet, Ings, Emerson Palmieri, Anang, Potts, Mubama.
AZ: Ryan, Sugawara, Beukema, Chatzidiakos, Mees de Wit, Clasie, Reijnders, Odgaard, Mijnans, van Brederode, Pavlidis. Subs: Verhulst, Mihailovic, Barasi, Lahdo, Bazoer, Vanheusden, Buurmeester, Meerdink, Goes, Deen.
Referee: Halil Meler (Turkey)
Updated
Preamble
Ronnie Boyce, Johnny “Budgie” Byrne, Johnny Sissons: the boys of 1965. The boys of 1976: Patsy Holland, Billy Bonds, Tommy Taylor and of course, Sir Trev of Brooking. The first set of lads won the European Cup Winners’ Cup, the second lost in the final but they remain only the two sets of Hammers to play in a European final. Can Declan Rice and the boys of 2023 join them? Expectation runs high in East London, and the Europa Conference League has been a helpful distraction from the Premier League. AZ Alkmar, the club that brought you Schteve McClaren and Johnny Metgod, Hammer slayer, lie in wait.
And there’s three other semi-finals to take into account. In the Conference League Fiorentina v Basel, two teams who have also allowed this competition to take the strain of an otherwise disappointing season.
The Europa League brings plenty of intrigue, too. Sevilla – of course – are there, and will face Juventus, another team trying to rescue something from their season. And then there’s Bayer Leverkusen, sixth in the Bundesliga, taking on Roma, seventh in Serie A, and that means, you know it, José time. Even the Special One, he of the three-Uefa-competition ink, has thrown all his lot in on the Thursday night game.
Team news from 7pm, Stratford/Bow time. All the action from 8pm
Updated
