West Ham won the 2022-’23 Conference League by beating Fiorentina 2-1 in the final played in Prague.
English ahead in the 17th minute of the second half with Benrahma on a penalty, momentary equalizer in the 22nd minute by Bonaventura then, in the 45th minute, West Ham’s winning goal bears the signature of Bowen.
The European dream of Fiorentina is shattered at the ninetieth. When extra time was in the offing, Jarrod Bowen slipped through the lily backline, found himself in front of Terracciano and gave West Ham the European trophy that fans have been waiting for almost sixty years. Fiorentina lost their second final of the season and Italian football lost the second of its three European finals. The night in Prague turns into a great party for the London hammers, who arrived in the Czech Republic in tens of thousands, many of them without a ticket, to dream of living the moment that the field then gave them. In a game that was essentially all condensed into the last half hour of the game, Fiorentina made their usual great possession, but also built less than usual. West Ham initially remained a bit on the sidelines like the English teams of the past, and then took the lead with a penalty kick awarded in the quarter of an hour for a hand in the area by Biraghi. That Fiorentina, however, had the strength to equalize a few minutes later thanks to an incursion by Jack Bonaventura, perhaps the best Viola on the pitch and not just for scoring. Until the 90th minute, when West Ham was able to break the stalemate with Bowen, who escaped Igor and was relentless in scoring the most important goal of his career and one of the most important in West Ham’s history. We could not even talk about the first sixty minutes of the match: throughout the first half and the first quarter of an hour of the second half, Fiorentina dribbled a lot, but without ever being really dangerous. West Ham played above all by letting Fiorentina build castles in the air and trying to dig a moat around them: but also in their case without ever getting really close to scoring. Lots of mistakes, on both sides. Things to remember are the intervention of the doctors to treat Biraghi who was hit on the head by an object thrown from the English curve as he was about to take a corner kick and Jovic’s goal disallowed for offside, at the end of the first half, who had picked up and put the rebound on a header by Kouamé on goal. Last act of Jovic’s game, replaced at the start of the second half by Cabral, with whom he had been in run-off the day before. The match heated up when the Spanish referee Del Cerro Grande, recalled by the Var, judged Biraghi’s hand touch in the area to be unfair: from the penalty spot, Benrahama gave the Hammers the lead. A slap for Fiorentina: but perhaps just the slap they needed. After just a few minutes Bonaventura, with an insertion of his, found the equal served by Nico Gonzalez. At that point both teams tried to win it: West Ham with Antonio and Soucek from Prague who found Terracciano attentive, Fiorentina above all with long-range shots from Mandragora and Amrabat. He could have closed it, extra time could have arrived and perhaps we could have played on penalties, but Bowen’s flash was enough, an inattention from a defense that made very few mistakes to write the history of the youngest of the European competitions who leaves Rome towards London. Celebrate captain Declan Rice who will leave for a big, celebrates Emerson Palmieri, the only player to have won all three European cups, celebrates, with a remnant of the match with the result acquired, also Angelo Ogbonna. Above all, the warm people of West Ham celebrate, with Fiorentina ending the season to the applause of their fans and with two final losses. Both heads held high. But he lost.
The goals and the most important phases of the match
90′ fast action by Paqueta and Bowen overtakes Terracciano with a shot at the edge of the post (1-2)
88′ Amrabat tries to surprise Areola, but the English goalkeeper is careful
81′ Great header from Soucek and great response from Terracciano
77′ shot by Bonaventura but this time the English goalkeeper saves without problems
72′ another action by Gonzalez, then Cabral unmarks Mandragora who doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity
67′ Fiorentina equalized immediately through Bonaventura following an assist from Gonzalez (1-1)
62nd goal by Benrahma from a penalty (0-1)
58′ Touch of the hand by Biraghi, penalty for West Ham
57′ Kouamé’s central conclusion that doesn’t worry Areola
49′ Bowen falls in the area but the referee continues despite the protests
Shooting started
45’+4, Jovic’s goal disallowed for offside after a header by Kouamé
43′ In the last minutes of the first half, West Ham pressed, Fiorentina risked a bit
35′ Biraghi was hit on the head by an object thrown by the English fans, which caused him a cut. The purple player has been treated and can continue the game
26′ Milenkovic fails to take advantage of a corner from Biraghi
20′ Jovic fails to take advantage of an opportunity inside the English penalty area
19′ the Viola look for an enveloping maneuver, the English strike on the counterattack
13′ pressing by the English, Rice touches Terracciano’s left post from the edge
9′ conclusion from the limit of Mandragora which however goes out on the bottom
6′ the two teams study each other, for now no significant action
The formations
Florentine: Terracciano, Dodò, Milenkovic, Ranieri, Biraghi, Amrabat, Mandragora, Bonaventura, Gonzalez, Jovic, Kouamé. All.: Italian.
West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Paquetá, Benrahma, Antonio. All.: Moyes.
Referee: Del Cerro Grande (Spain).
Source: Ansa
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
