West Ham United came, they saw and they conquered in Praha as they defeated Fiorentina to lift the 2022/23 UEFA Europa Conference League title.
Fiorentina starting XI (4-3-3): Terracciano, Dodo, Milenkovic, Ranieri, Biraghi, Amrabat, Mandragora, Kouame, Bonaventura, Gonzalez and Jovic.
West Ham starting XI (4-3-3): Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Soucek, Rice, Paqueta, Bowen, Antonio and Benrahma.
The game was a fiercely contested encounter, customary with how finals pan out.
Fiorentina were dominant in possession and they enjoyed the larger share of possession while West Ham United were more reserved.
The game began with real end-to-end stuff from both sides as the two teams had a big chance in the early exchanges.
Kouame had a shot blocked in the 2nd minute before the hammers went on a rampaging counter attack.
Antonio bent inside, smashing a low attempt to the bottom left corner, however, Terracciano saved the effort easily.
There was an evident tactical battle on display at the Fortuna Arena in Praha between two managers with contrasting styles.
Vincenzo Italiano was very animated on the touchline despite his side enjoying the larger share of possession.
David Moyes was also fixated on his side’s performance in the game as he watched on from his technical area.
In the 13th minute of proceedings, Coufal sent a long throw-in into the box of Fiorentina resulting in Bonaventura clearing the ball away from the area.
However, his clearance only went as far as the edge of the area, Declan Rice was waiting to pounce and he smashed an instant speculative half-volley with his right foot.
His shot went wide to the left of the goalpost and both finalists continued to have a go at each other.
In the 31st minute, referee Carlos Del Cerro was called to action as he brandished the first yellow card in the encounter to Said Benrahma.
Benrahma was shown a yellow card after the referee deemed his fall to the turf as a dive and not a free-kick in favor of the hammers.
The last big action in the first half saw Fiorentina put the ball in the back of the net but their joy was short-lived as Jovic was offside.
Luka Jovic bundled the ball into the net beating Areola in goal for West Ham but the assistant referee raised a flag up for offside.
A VAR check was conducted to examine the decision and after the check was completed the referee stuck to the earlier decision.
The Violets and The Hammers went into the interval level at the break with no goals scored by either side.
The second half began with both teams having their sights fixated on the trophy and the hammers struck first in the game.
David Moyes’ side were handed a penalty after videos showed that the ball clipped the hand of Biraghi after a chest down from Jarrod Bowen.
A VAR check was conducted and the penalty was given with Said Benrahma stepping up to give West Ham United the lead.
7 minutes away from the hour mark, Vincenzo Italiano’s side levelled matters in the game.
Giacomo Bonaventura equalised with a perfectly placed right footed finish into the bottom left corner.
Fiorentina and West Ham United continued to have a go at each other until the man who promised his father-in-law-to-be the trophy came up clutch.
Jarrod Bowen scored right at the end of regulation time of the encounter putting a massive blow to Fiorentina’s hopes of winning the trophy.
Lucas Paqueta played a through-ball to find Bowen who slotted the ball calmly past Terraccinano in goal for Fiorentina.
5 minutes was added as additional time in the encounter but 9 minutes was eventually played.
After all said and done, West Ham United won their first European title since the 1960s with jubilant scenes seen across the stadium from the camp of the English side.
