AZ Alkmaar 0-1 West Ham United
West Ham United won 3-1 on aggregate
UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final second leg, AZ Stadion, Thursday 18 May 2023, 9pm CEST (8pm BST(
Seventh of June. Bring it on.
For the first time in 47 years, a European final is marked on West Ham United’s schedule.
Pablo Fornals’ injury-time winner at AZ Alkmaar on Thursday evening means a trip to Prague will conclude the 2022/23 campaign.
A 2-1 win in the first leg, and a 1-0 win in the second, was enough to see the Hammers to the UEFA Europa Conference League final. And now unbeaten in 14 matches in the competition, a chance for the Club’s first major trophy since 1980 against Fiorentina beckons in three weeks' time.
Some journey this has been for West Ham United under the steely determination of David Moyes, but there was work to be done in Alkmaar ahead of the second leg.
AZ started quickly, spraying the ball around the field, with Tomáš Souček and Declan Rice both forced to make crucial blocks inside two minutes to keep those in Red and White out.
And as our grasp of the ball grew, the Hammers stamped their authority – and a thoroughly professional showing got the job done.
Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd swept up the danger, Paquetá and Declan Rice combined joyfully, while Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio stretched the AZ defence, with their tenacity and drive out of possession urging their side forwards.
Chances soon arrived for those in Claret and Blue too. Bowen sent our first shot wide, before Paquetá drifted inside, and saw his curling effort met with a clunk of the woodwork – the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock in the first 45.
Knowing a draw would send the Irons through, AZ continued to press after the interval. Sven Mijnans called Alphonse Areola into an early save at one end. Rice then tested Ryan at the other.
But as the AZ pressure grew each in Claret and Blue played their part. Rice’s challenge to send Myron van Brederode sprawling across the turf. Nayef Aguerd’s divine intervention to stop Yukinari Sugawara. Aaron Cresswell battle-hardened from last year’s exploits. Kurt Zouma likewise.
Alphonse Areola was calmness personified. Saïd Benrahma breezed past his man. While Thilo Kehrer ensured his didn’t.
Souček’s work rate was class. Bowen’s drive evident. Michail Antonio’s skill on the half-turn too.
Then there was Paquetá, being well, Paquetá. Drifting. Darting. Turning, this way and that. The 900-odd away support watching on in awe as the Brazil creative put on a show in Alkmaar.
And after Pablo Fornals replaced Benrahma, Bowen was next to get the travelling Hammers on their feet. He won the ball and drove into the AZ area but could not pick out Souček. Aguerd then had them celebrating. He looked to have found the net but somehow his effort drifted wide from close range.
Then as the pressure grew from AZ, the Irons had to dig deep once more. Players who tasted disappointment in Frankfurt, stood taller in the Netherlands. Battle-hardened by defeat, they, alongside the 2022/23 additions, drove their Club over the line.
Whether in Denmark, Belgium, Romania, Cyprus, or the Netherlands, European football has continued to deliver in the Irons’ second season on the continent. And a man who has been so important across the last two years delivered the final blow. Fornals burst through the AZ shirts and found the bottom corner. Wheeling away in trademark fashion.
One draw, 13 wins, means this is a side, who have waltzed their way to a final. Prague now awaits for Moyes’ Claret and Blue Army.
AZ Alkmaar: Ryan, Sugawara, Beukema, Hatzidiakos, Kerkez (M.de Wit 85), Reijnders, Mijnans (D de Wit 70), Clasie ©, Van Brederode (Lahdo 78), Pavlidis, Karlsson
Subs not used: Verhulst (GK), Deen (GK), Mihailovic, Bazoer, Vanheusden, Meerdink, Goes
West Ham United: Areola, Kehrer, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell, Souček, Rice ©, Paquetá (Downes 90+2), Bowen, Antonio (Ings 84), Benrahma (Fornals 75)
Subs not used: Fabiański (GK), Anang (GK), Johnson, Ogbonna, Emerson, Coufal, Lanzini, Cornet, Mubama
Goal: Fornals 90+4
Booked: Souček, Kehrer
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (Slovakia)
Attendance: 19,009
