Emerson Palmieri became the first player to win all five UEFA competitions in the process.
Author: Soorya G
Premier League side West Ham emerged victorious from the UEFA Europa Conference League final against Serie A club Fiorentina. The two teams engaged in an incredibly intense match, in which end-to-end action continued throughout the duration of the game. The two sides were at each other’s throats for most of the game, until a sequence of moves between Brazilian midfielder Lucas Pacqueta and Jarrod Bowen resulted in a goal in the final moments of what would be the decisive game, with West Ham lifting a European trophy for the first time in over 57 years.
It was also the first major trophy for veteran English manager David Moyes, who savored European glory in front of several West Ham fans who traveled to the Czech Republic to witness the historic event. The crowd also included Moyes’ 87-year-old father, who was present at most of West Ham’s Conference League games, both home and away.
The contest got off to a fast start, with both teams trying to establish their dominance early on. Both coaches fielded their usual full teams, with Lucas Pacqueta starting as a playmaker behind Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen and Algerian striker Said Benrahma. Local players Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal, who returned to the Fortuna Arena, received a warm welcome from the fans. For Fiorentina, Moroccan star Sofyan Amrabat started as a pivot, with veteran Giacomo Bonaventura playing as a number ten, while Nicolas Gonzales, Luka Jovic and Christian Kouame made up the Italians’ front line.
Both managers went into the game perhaps with the same intention of scoring an early goal and consolidating their lead for the rest of the game. This was evident in the first minute of the game, when Fiorentina threw themselves forward in large numbers, before a West Ham counter-attack, when Brazilian star Pacqueta fed Antonio, whose shot from distance barely troubled Pietro Terraciano. Soon after, Pacqueta and Bowen combined to push West Ham forward, finding Declan Rice in space.
The Englishman unleashed a shot from the edge of the box that went just wide of the post. West Ham were in control of the game throughout the first half, until Fiorentina winger Gonzalez managed to dribble past several West Ham defenders and then advanced towards the West Ham goal, passing the ball onto his favoured left foot and firing a threatening cross to Kouame, whose header hit the post, before Jovic pushed it in. The Serb, however, was in an illegal position at the time of Gonzalez’s cross, which led to the goal being disallowed.
In the second half, a duel inside the Fiorentina box resulted in captain Biraghi handling the ball, which gave West Ham a golden opportunity to go ahead with a penalty. Benrahma stepped up to take the penalty ahead of Bowen and calmly sent his shot into the Fiorentina net, putting his side ahead. It didn’t take long for the Italians to react, however, and Gonzalez slipped a pass through for Bonaventura to score a spectacular goal and recover. But, as mentioned above, West Ham got the win before the final whistle.