Conference League, West Ham 2-1 AZ Alkmaar: goals from Reijnders, Benrahma and Antonio

West Ham takes a small step towards their first European final since 1976. Nothing decisive, because in the semi-final first leg AZ Alkmaar fell 2-1 at the London Stadium, but the most Italian team in the Premier League (Emerson, the only blue to disposition of Moyes with Ogbonna and Scamacca out due to injury, he remains on the bench for the whole match) next Thursday in Holland he will start again with a precious advantage. Built as a comeback, after conceding a goal at the end of the first half, after finally managing to demonstrate that they are more talented than a young and well-placed group that is looking for their first final since 1981.

The keys

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The hero of the Irons is Michail Antonio, the Jamaican centre-forward who scores the turnaround goal in the 76th minute after a match up until then in chiaroscuro. Up to that moment, West Ham, which this year has always shone in Europe despite the season well below expectations, had struggled quite a bit against AZ, the team that applies the concept of Moneyball to football brought to the cinema by Brad Pitt, and not just because the original Moneyball Billy Beane owns 5% of the club. The Dutch are in great shape on the pitch, they possess the ball and are insidious without being able to create great things around Areola, the cup goalkeeper of West Ham. The Irons are scary when they attack, but fail to organize themselves as needed, with Bowen off on the right and Paquetá who has lots of good ideas but misses the last pass every time. AZ deserved the lead in the first half and overall they didn’t lose, but after conceding the equalizer they went down without being able to avoid the knockout blow. Both teams will try to place that in the return match, in Alkmaar. Because this match in London said that West Ham has the best talents but that AZ, who knocked out Lazio in the round of 16, know how to fight against whoever is superior to them on paper.

The match

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West Ham had the best chances in the first half but it was AZ who had the game. And to take the lead. It happened in the 42nd minute, when a shot from outside by Reijnders after a contested restart went past Areola after a deflection by Zouma. The hosts struggled to build at the beginning of the second half but in the 67th minute they equalized from a penalty: it was Benrahma who converted it two minutes after Bowen had been knocked down in the area by goalkeeper Ryan. The goal ignites West Ham who overtakes in the 76th minute with Antonio, very good at catching a short clearance from Suragawa in the small area, who had saved on Aguerd. Shortly afterwards Moyes played the Ings card in place of the author of the goal, but the result never changed.