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Europa Conference League Final Match Report & Player Ratings | West Ham United secure European honors after 2-1 win over Fiorentina

Goals from Saïd Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen on either side of a Giacomo Bonaventura equalizer sees the Hammers secure their first piece of major silverware in over forty years

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Pre-Match Social Media Commentary

Match Report

West Ham United fans will be singing into the long hours of the night in Prague after David Moyes’ Hammers ran out 2-1 winners against Serie A outfit Fiorentina in the final of the Europa Conference League.

Moyes, who secured his first piece of silverware in a career that spans nearly 1,100 matches, also became the first British manager since Sir Alex Ferguson to list a European trophy, while putting an exclamation point on 2022-23 that was massively disappointing on the home front.

It was a historic night for Hammers left-back Emerson as well, becoming the first player to ever win the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League, while the Italian international can also boast a European Championship with the Azzurri.

In what was a hotly-contested opening forty-five minutes that regularly boiled over into borderline aggression (perhaps due to pre-match clashes between fans in Prague), neither Fiorentina nor West Ham was capable of opening the scoring at Fortuna Arena.

La Viola dominated proceedings, however, boasting 68% possession and keeping David Moyes’ Hammers under 100 completed passes in the first half, while the Serie A side created one big chance that they failed to convert.

Argentine winder Nico González offered the greatest attacking threat for Vincenzo Italiano’s men, though star England midfielder Declan Rice did have a halfway decent chance earlier in the half when his rasping half-volley from just outside the box sailed just wide of Pietro Terracciano’s goal.

Biraghi would once again be at the center of attention 15-minutes after the restart when he was judged to have committed a handball in the box in the wake of Jarrod Bowen chesting down an over-the-top ball into the area, with the Hammers dispatching the match opener through Saïd Benrahma.

Fiorentina leveled matters just seven minutes later through Giacomo Bonaventura when the Italian dispatched a half-volley past Alphonse Areola low into the far corner after González did well to nod down a high ball into the box to set up the midfielder in space.

But the Hammers were not to be denied on the night after Bowen burst through into the box just seconds before added time to slot past Terracciano after Lucas Paquetá played an expertly weighted through ball between the lines for the winger to convert under pressure. It was Bowen’s fifth strike in eleven Conference League matches, but undoubtedly one of the most important of his career.

In the end, the Hammers would go on to secure their first piece of European silverware since the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup, and their first major honor in over four decades in what was sure to be the perfect send-off for captain and midfield star Declan Rice.

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Andrew Thompson

US-based Football writer. German football guru with a wealth of experience in youth development and analysis. Data aficionado. Happily championing the notion that Americans have a knowledgeable voice in the beautiful game.

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