West Ham United won the Europa Conference League in dramatic fashion, with Jarrod Bowen scoring a 90th-minute winner in Prague as they overcame Fiorentina 2-1.
One-on-one with the goalkeeper, Bowen struck the ball into the far corner to send the travelling Hammers fans into delirium.
It ends a 58-year wait for the club’s second major European trophy – plus a 43-year drought without any significant honours – and came at the climax of an end-to-end second period which followed a tense, goalless first half.
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While Fiorentina dominated possession in that first half, West Ham’s defence limited them to few clear chances. Nikola Milenkovic headed over from a corner when he was unmarked and should have done better, but it was another corner in the first half which proved more consequential.
As Cristiano Biraghi prepared to take a corner, he was struck on the head as West Ham fans showered Fiorentina’s captain with plastic tankards. It drew blood and led to a pause in the match, during which some Irons players pleaded for calm.
La Viola almost made their dominance count in first-half stoppage time when Christian Kouame headed onto the post, but Luka Jovic was offside before scoring with a diving header on the rebound.
West Ham broke the deadlock from the penalty spot, with a helping hand from a VAR review which penalised Biraghi for accidentally handling in the box. Said Benrahma sent the goalkeeper the wrong way with the spot kick.
The lead was held for only five minutes, however, as Giacomo Bonaventura equalised for Fiorentina in style. With one touch he collected a knockdown and with the next he rifled the bouncing ball into the far corner.
Both teams had chances to win it thereafter but it was Bowen, after beating the offside trap being set up by the quiet-until-then Lucas Paqueta, who took his chance and decided the final.
West Ham fan injures Biraghi
Cristiano Biraghi was injured by an object thrown from the West Ham supporter section in the Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina.
The 30-year-old full-back was preparing to take a corner after 33 minutes of play, with the score 0-0 at the Eden Arena in the Czech Republic.
It then appeared that plastic cups were thrown in the direction of the player as he approached the ball, but he appeared to flinch when something smaller was aimed in his direction.
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He then sarcastically applauded the fans, before it became clear that he was injured by the missile.
Biraghi was seen with a cut to the back of his head, with a large amount of blood streaming from the back of his head, which required medal attention and a bandage so he could return to action.
Italian football writer James Horncastle, analysing the match for BT Sport, said the culprit must be banned.
“You’d like to think that – we have VAR to tell us about mistakes in referee decisions – that there are enough cameras in the stadium now find whoever did that and ban them.”
Former West Ham player Joe Cole described it as “moronic behaviour”.
“We’ve praised the West Ham fans and rightly so, they’ve been very well behaved. It needs to be sorted out and taken out of the game,” he continued.
The match was halted by the officials as a result of the incident, with both Fiorentina and West Ham looking for a rare moment of European success.
