First ugly scenes, then the big jubilation: Led by Bayern flirt Declan Rice, West Ham United won the Conference League and ended his 43-year ordeal.
The Hammers defeated AC Florence 2-1 (0-0) in Prague and thus won their first title since the FA Cup in 1980. However, the game was overshadowed by the misconduct of both fan camps before and during the game.
“We are extremely happy. Winning a European title with West Ham is outstanding,” said national player Thilo Kehrer, who came on as a substitute in the 61st minute, at “Nitro”: “The game went back and forth, it was pretty even . In the end we got it as a unit.”
Said Benrahma (62′, penalty after video evidence) and Jarrod Bowen (90′) scored for the north Londoners, Giacomo Bonaventura (67′) made sure of the equalizer. West Ham, which finished the past Premier League season in a disappointing 14th place in the table, also qualified for the coming season in the Europa League.
A few hours before the game, Florence fans had caused chaos in the center of Prague by attacking West Ham supporters. In a clash in a bar, three people were slightly injured and 16 Florence fans were arrested.
In the stadium, the first focus was on the sporting side. Kehrer was not in the starting XI for the English side, while ex-Frankfurter Luka Jovic stormed in from the start.
Rice tends to the bleeding Biraghi
West Ham started quickly, a shot from Rice just missed the Italian goal on the left (13′). As a result, the game flattened out significantly – until finally the English fans were ingloriously noticed.
Cup throws end bloody
Shortly before a corner kick was taken, Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi hit the back of the head with a beer mug thrown from the West Ham curve (33′). The medical supervisors treated the Italian’s heavily bleeding cut with a purple turban, after a short break the game continued. A few seconds before the half-time whistle, Florence celebrated – but Jovic was just offside when he hit the ball with his head (45+4).
Shortly before the hour mark, Biraghi of all people committed a handball in his own penalty area – according to video evidence, Benrahma converted the penalty kick brilliantly to put the English in the lead, for whom Kehrer was now on the field. But the Italians struck back through Bonaventura just five minutes later. Shortly before the end, Bowen scored the acclaimed winner.