Fiorentina 1-2 West Ham United: Jarrod Bowen goal decides Europa Conference League final

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Jarrod Bowen scores in the 90th minute as West Ham win the Europa Conference League – beating Fiorentina in a tense…

West Ham players celebrate with Europa Conference League trophy
West Ham finished 14th in the Premier League this season, the lowest position any team has finished in the table in the same season they won a major European trophy.

West Ham ended their 43-year wait for a major trophy as Jarrod Bowen scored a last-minute goal to beat Fiorentina and win the Europa Conference League in Prague.

The final seemed to be heading for extra time after Said Benrahma’s second-half penalty was cancelled out just seven minutes later by a well-taken effort from Giacomo Bonaventura.

It was a testy and sometimes bad tempered game – and at one point it got downright ugly as Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi was struck by a plastic bottle thrown from the West Ham section.

The match was settled in the most dramatic manner.

Bowen timed his run to perfection as Lucas Paqueta slid a superb pass through the Fiorentina defence.

The England man ran free, steadied himself, then beat Pietro Terracciano with a calm finish to thrill the Hammers fans – who were far greater in number than the 5,000 tickets they were allotted – and send manager David Moyes running down the touchline to celebrate the first major silverware of his career.

It means captain Declan Rice, in probably his final game for the club, emulated club greats Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds by leading the club to glory. Moore captained West Ham to the 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup and Bonds led them to the FA Cup in 1975 and 1980.

The victory also seals a place in next season’s Europa League and means European football for the third year running for the first time in the club’s history.

Jubilation for West Ham

Said Benrahma opened the scoring for West Ham in the 62nd minute
Said Benrahma opened the scoring for West Ham in the 62nd minute

The manner of victory could not have been any sweeter for West Ham.

Whilst Nayef Aguerd took time out to console Morocco team-mates Sofyan Amrabat at the final whistle, the celebrations of the Premier League team were something to behold.

From 18-year-old forward Divin Mubama, who played no part, to Moyes himself, finally a trophy-winner after such a long career in management, all joined in joy, leaping around trying to take it all in.

There will be an unwanted post-script as Uefa is bound to come down hard on the Hammers for the unwanted first-half scenes that left Biraghi playing with a bandage round his head for the last hour of the contest and forced the club to condemn those responsible.

Biraghi receives treatment
Fiorentina’s Biraghi was hit in the head by an object thrown from the West Ham end

However, that is for another day.

The reaction from the pitch and the stands at the final whistle give a lie to anyone who feels this tournament is beneath them and should give hope to Aston Villa, England’s entrants next season.

At the centre of it all was Rice. There was no thought of his future as he lapped up the adulation of the fans who have followed his journey from rising academy star to full England honours.

West Ham wouldn’t be denied

David Moyes on goal celebration and West Ham’s ‘super season’ in Europe

Some West Ham fans must have thought they had won it when Benrahma coolly drove home his spot-kick after the video assistant referee intervened to rule Biraghi had handled Bowen’s header.

But the loss of Kurt Zouma to injury just before Benrahma scored disrupted West Ham’s rhythm and after Nicolas Gonzalez had provided the knockback, Bonaventura’s excellent control and shot was too good for Alphonse Areola, preferred in goal to first-choice Lukasz Fabianski and maintaining his 100% appearance record in the competition.

Areola had been fortunate to escape conceding the opener in the final minute of the opening period when he failed to get down to a Christian Kouame header, which bounced off a post and fell kindly for Luka Jovic.

Areola should have kept out Jovic’s header, which was straight at him. Instead, he fumbled it over the line. The Frenchman was hugely relieved to see the offside flag raised, a decision confirmed by VAR. Jovic got an accidental boot in the face from Tomas Soucek instead and had to be replaced at the break.

The game didn’t really develop any momentum as too many players exaggerated non-existent fouls, which made it a tough evening for Spanish referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande, much as it was for Anthony Taylor in the Europa League final seven days earlier.

Grande did keep command of the contest, rightly booking Benrahma for diving at one point.

In the end though, all this was a footnote.

Bowen scored. West Ham got their trophy and Rice got to lift it.

Player of the match

BowenJarrod Bowen

with an average of 8.50

Fiorentina

  1. Squad number34Player nameS Amrabat

    Average rating

    5.56

  2. Squad number1Player nameTerracciano

    Average rating

    5.54

  3. Squad number5Player nameBonaventura

    Average rating

    5.44

  4. Squad number2Player nameDodô

    Average rating

    5.36

  5. Squad number4Player nameMilenkovic

    Average rating

    5.31

  6. Squad number3Player nameBiraghi

    Average rating

    5.30

  7. Squad number16Player nameRanieri

    Average rating

    5.26

  8. Squad number98Player nameIgor Julio

    Average rating

    5.21

  9. Squad number22Player nameGonzález

    Average rating

    5.20

  10. Squad number72Player nameBarák

    Average rating

    5.20

  11. Squad number9Player nameArthur Cabral

    Average rating

    5.19

  12. Squad number99Player nameKouamé

    Average rating

    5.15

  13. Squad number38Player nameMandragora

    Average rating

    5.12

  14. Squad number8Player nameSaponara

    Average rating

    5.11

  15. Squad number7Player nameJovic

    Average rating

    5.02

West Ham United

  1. Squad number20Player nameBowen

    Average rating

    8.50

  2. Squad number41Player nameRice

    Average rating

    8.10

  3. Squad number11Player nameLucas Paquetá

    Average rating

    8.07

  4. Squad number22Player nameBenrahma

    Average rating

    7.98

  5. Squad number33Player nameEmerson

    Average rating

    7.62

  6. Squad number27Player nameAguerd

    Average rating

    7.59

  7. Squad number28Player nameSoucek

    Average rating

    7.55

  8. Squad number9Player nameAntonio

    Average rating

    7.54

  9. Squad number13Player nameAréola

    Average rating

    7.52

  10. Squad number5Player nameCoufal

    Average rating

    7.49

  11. Squad number8Player nameFornals

    Average rating

    7.36

  12. Squad number24Player nameKehrer

    Average rating

    7.23

  13. Squad number4Player nameZouma

    Average rating

    7.16

  14. Squad number21Player nameOgbonna

    Average rating

    7.12

Line-ups

Fiorentina

Formation 4-3-3

  • 1Terracciano
  • 2Cordeiro Dos Santos
  • 4MilenkovicBooked at 75mins
  • 16RanieriSubstituted fordos Santos de Pauloat 84′minutes
  • 3Biraghi
  • 5Bonaventura
  • 34S AmrabatBooked at 85mins
  • 38MandragoraBooked at 66minsSubstituted forBarákat 90+3′minutes
  • 22González
  • 7JovicSubstituted forMendonça Cabralat 45′minutes
  • 99KouaméSubstituted forSaponaraat 61′minutes

Substitutes

  • 8Saponara
  • 9Mendonça Cabral
  • 11Ikoné
  • 15Terzic
  • 23Venuti
  • 28Martínez
  • 31Cerofolini
  • 32Duncan
  • 42Bianco
  • 72Barák
  • 77Brekalo
  • 98dos Santos de Paulo

West Ham

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 13Aréola
  • 5Coufal
  • 4ZoumaSubstituted forKehrerat 61′minutes
  • 27AguerdBooked at 53mins
  • 33Emerson
  • 28Soucek
  • 41Rice
  • 20BowenBooked at 90mins
  • 11Lucas Paquetá
  • 22BenrahmaBooked at 31minsSubstituted forFornalsat 76′minutes
  • 9AntonioSubstituted forOgbonnaat 90+4′minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Fabianski
  • 2Johnson
  • 3Cresswell
  • 8Fornals
  • 10Lanzini
  • 12Downes
  • 14Cornet
  • 18Ings
  • 21Ogbonna
  • 24Kehrer
  • 62Potts
  • 72Mubama

Referee:
Carlos del Cerro Grande

Attendance:
17,363

Match Stats

Live Text

  1. Match ends, Fiorentina 1, West Ham United 2.

  2. Second Half ends, Fiorentina 1, West Ham United 2.

  3. Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina) wins a free kick on the right wing.

  4. Foul by Pablo Fornals (West Ham United).

  5. Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card.

  6. Foul by Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina).

  7. Lucas Paquetá (West Ham United) wins a free kick on the right wing.

  8. Igor Julio (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  9. Foul by Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United).

  10. Substitution, West Ham United. Angelo Ogbonna replaces Michail Antonio.

  11. Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  12. Foul by Lucas Paquetá (West Ham United).

  13. Substitution, Fiorentina. Antonín Barák replaces Rolando Mandragora.

  14. Foul by Rolando Mandragora (Fiorentina).

  15. Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  16. Aaron Cresswell (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card.

  17. Goal! Fiorentina 1, West Ham United 2. Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) left footed shot from the left side of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Lucas Paquetá with a through ball following a fast break.

  18. Pietro Terracciano (Fiorentina) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  19. Foul by Thilo Kehrer (West Ham United).

  20. Foul by Igor Julio (Fiorentina).

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