West Ham United were crowned UEFA Europa Conference League champions with a 2-1 win over Fiorentina on Wednesday evening.
Having recently lost the Coppa Italia, the Viola added Luka Jovic and Christian Kouame to their front-three to the Hammers featuring the in-demand Declan Rice as Alphonso Areola remained in goal.
The boys of David Moyes weren’t prepared to play a waiting contest and launched the first scare after Michel Antonio cut in to draw Pietro Terracciano to a save.
Nonetheless, the adversaries managed to find their own following kick-off and saw a clever dink effort by Nikola Milenkovic angled over target.
With the match poised, missiles were thrown on by the Hammers supporters and at that caught Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi.
Vincenzo Italiano’s men appeared to have gone ahead before halftime with a point-blank header by Jovic off a rebound by Areola, but it was ruled out due to an offside on the Serbian.
It turned out to be the last contribution for a certain Jovic, as the manager Italiano decided to make a change after halftime and brought on Arthur Cabral.
West Ham carved open the Italian side over ten minutes in the second half, as Biraghi handled a ball in and Said Benrahma did the honours midway through the second period.
The Viola were back on level terms around the final quarter when Jack Bonaventure brought a knockdown in the area under control and hit the far side.
Fiorentina battled to keep out the Hammers and were behind again when Jarrod Bowen picked on a through pass and fired through Terracciano.
With full-time in sight, the Hammers ran down the remaining seconds and ensured the win as well as the Conference League title.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
