All the drama came at the end, Pablo Fornals settling the tie deep into added time and the moronic reaction of some thuggish AZ Alkmaar fans briefly threatening to ruin West Ham’s evening. The mood had turned acrid at the AFAS Stadion, with hooligans shaming the beaten hosts when they found the pain of defeat too much to bear and responding to the final whistle by charging at the pitchside section housing West Ham’s sponsors, club officials and the team’s families.
It was carnage for a few minutes, David Moyes’s players understandably furious when they realised what was happening. Yet it would not be long before Declan Rice, West Ham’s imperious captain, was leading his teammates towards the away end to celebrate Moyes’s resilient side reaching their first European final in 47 years. They had done so by keeping their cool and, for all that West Ham’s lack of care in possession made the second leg of this Europa Conference League semi-final unnecessarily anxious at times, nobody could dispute that they deserved to go through after winning 3-1 on aggregate.
Ultimately it never seemed likely that AZ would find a way through the wall of black shirts protecting Alphonse Areola’s goal. Yes, the statistics at the end had suggested an evening of Dutch dominance. AZ had more shots, more of the ball and more corners. Yet Pascal Jansen’s young side would pay for their lack of incision and in the end it was not a surprise when Fornals’ clinical goal gave West Ham the chance to dream of beating Fiorentina in the final in Prague on 7 June.
There were, of course, some hairy moments during the second half. With 20 minutes left Rice could be seen urging his leggy teammates to give it one last push. West Ham had to dig deep and, from AZ’s perspective, there will be questions over whether the game would have turned out differently if they had been given a penalty for Nayef Aguerd’s risky foul on Vangelis Pavlidis just before the hour.
Equally there was never a genuine sense that Rice would finish on the losing side. The midfielder has a plan to leave east London on a high, and there would be no better way to sign off than by helping West Ham win their first trophy since 1980.
There is no chance of anyone of a claret and blue persuasion begrudging Rice his move if he plays this well against Fiorentina. The midfielder was everywhere, repeatedly putting out fires, although he did not do it alone. It was a professional display from West Ham. Moyes, who has never won a trophy, made no apologies for focusing on keeping a clean sheet. The Scot has endured a difficult season; now he stands one win away from cementing his place as a West Ham legend.
It all felt so much more restrained compared with last year’s heartbreak against Eintracht Frankfurt in the last four of the Europa League. West Ham blew that tie, Aaron Cresswell’s red card in the second leg summing up their lack of composure, but here they were calm. They were in control after fighting back from a goal down to win the first leg and were determined not to give AZ hope of a turnaround.
It was not entirely clear why the hosts were unbeaten in 25 European home games. West Ham simply looked stronger and fitter, while they had fun when Lucas Paquetá had the ball. The Brazilian was a delight to watch at times, his footwork a level above, and he would go closer than anyone to scoring during the opening period. He deserved better than for his bending drive to clip a post after fine hold-up play from Michail Antonio.
By that stage AZ had been reduced to hopeful pot shots from long range. They played in front of West Ham and were struggling to get enough bodies into the box. It was too easy for Aguerd and Kurt Zouma to keep heading the crosses away.
Jansen needed his side to take more risks in the second half. There was more hope when Milos Kerkez broke through, the left-back’s cross just evading Pavlidis. Suddenly the Dutch side were pressing. West Ham had to wake up when the midfielder Tijjani Reijnders almost released Pavlidis.
Fiorentina's Antonin Barak struck deep into stoppage time at the end of extra time to take his side into the Europa Conference League final with a 3-1 win at Basel that secured a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Fiorentina took the lead in the 35th minute when a corner was met by the unmarked Nicolás González, who headed home to level the aggregate score at 2-2.
Zeki Amdouni then scored for Basel 10 minutes into the second half before Gonzalez responded in the 72nd with a well-placed shot, sending the match into extra time.
Nine minutes into stoppage time in the extra period, Barak collected a loose ball inside the box and slotted it home from close range to send Fiorentina into the final.
The Italians will face West Ham in the final in Prague on 7 June.
A response came from Rice testing Mat Ryan from 25 yards. Yet West Ham were starting to wobble. Their wingers, Jarrod Bowen and Saïd Benrahma, were not doing enough. AZ’s belief was growing and Thilo Kehrer, who was booked for time-wasting, went close to disaster when he almost turned a cross past Areola.
Yet West Ham held firm. Sent on to provide more energy during the dying stages, Fornals did more than that. Deep into added time a loose ball broke to the Spaniard, he drove a low shot past Ryan from 20 yards and West Ham’s celebrations could begin.
