West Ham had to wait 58 years to be at the top of a top-notch European competition. The English club won the Conference Europa League by winning 2-1 in the final against Fiorentina on Wednesday in Prague.

David Moyes' men won thanks to a late goal from Jarrod Bowen (90th). The Hammers succeed Roma in the C4 and thus secure a place in the Europa League. With the exception of the Intertoto Cup in 1999, with this victory, the English club won its first trophy since an FA Cup in 1980. On the European scene, their previous major title was at the 1965 Cup Winners' Cup. For Fiorentina, on the other hand, it is still a disappointment after their defeat in the final of the Coppa Italia against Inter Milan on May 24.

Fiorentina responds-for-tat

At the Eden Arena, filled with 18,000 spectators, the two teams neutralized each other in a first half during which West Ham took only one shot on target, by striker Michail Antonio (1st). The Londoners opened the scoring shortly after the hour mark on a penalty whistled after a hand foul by La Viola captain Cristiano Biraghi, confirmed by VAR. Saïd Benrahma scored strongly on the right by deceiving goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano (62).

But the Fiorentina players did not give up, and equalized five minutes later thanks to a cross into the box of midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura (67). La Viola took control of the game to try to get to safety with a strike from distance from Biraghi easily caught by French international goalkeeper Alphonse Areola (76). West Ham then attacked in the last ten minutes and Jarrod Bowen, well launched into the back of the Italian defence by Lucas Paqueta, beat Terracciano with a heavy strike (90).

Areola satisfied

"It's been hard for everybody... we enter the history of the club, "commented Areola at the microphone of Canal +. "It feels good to add a European Cup to my record, this one, it's quite special because I played it from start to finish," added the Frenchman who was the designated goalkeeper for C4 matches this season.

The match, tense and punctuated by many faults, was stopped for a few minutes at the half hour of play. As he was about to shoot a corner, Biraghi was hit in the back of the skull by plastic cups thrown by West Ham fans. The player was treated on the field and play resumed after a call for calm made in the stadium.

Several hundred police officers had also been deployed in the city to avoid clashes between fans that had punctuated the two semi-final matches between West Ham and the Dutch club Alkmaar. Three people were lightly injured in a fight between fans at a bar in the city, according to Czech police, who reported 16 arrests.

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