West Ham beat Fiorentina in the final of the UEFA Conference League, by 2-1, and became champion of the tournament, in a very balanced and exciting match. The fans celebrated in the stands, creating a wonderful atmosphere in the stadium, with lots of chants, screams, and murmurs.
This was West Ham’s third international title. After thirty years, they managed to win a competition outside England. Now they’re standing out among their peers and raising the name of English football in international tournaments. Benrahma and Bowen scored the goals that gave them the title, while Bonaventura was the only one to score for the Italian side. Check out in detail what happened in this grand final with our analysis below. It’s worth mentioning that, as in the Europa League, we predicted the outcome of the final perfectly!
When:
Wednesday, June 7th– 03:00 pm ET at the Eden Arena, Czech Republic
Moneyline odds:
Fiorentina +179
West Ham +164
Draw offs:
+220
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Final – Fiorentina vs. West Ham – 1st Half
The match started as many expected: balanced, studied, and with chances for both sides. Fiorentina had more possession of the ball and shot more often. However, they didn’t pose much danger to Areola’s safe goal.
West Ham was trying to find their game, using the strength of their striker, Antonio, and the technical quality of the Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paquetá. Of the seven shots Fiorentina managed, all went wide. The break seems to have been a good moment for the Hammers and their manager, as they needed to adjust some defensive issues, considering they were giving a lot of space for La Viola’s midfielders to finish. Before going to the changing rooms, however, the Italians still saw a goal disallowed for offside, when González manages a good move on the right side, and launches it into the area, the attacker heads the crossbar and the ball remains on the penalty spot. That goal would give an important advantage to the Italian team, but it was not validated.
Final – Fiorentina vs. West Ham – 2nd Half
The second half started agitated and the first goal of the game happened at minute 14′. After a couple of minutes, the video assistant referee saw the Fiorentina defender’s hand touch. Benrahma takes the penalty and scores the first goal of the game.
Eight minutes later, however, La Viola tied the game, after an aerial dispute in the West Ham penalty area, in which the ball was left clean for Bonaventura to kick and hit the corner of the goal. The scoreboard was even again.
From that moment on, the team’s standard of play was already well-defined. Fiorentina tried to shoot on goal as soon as they had the opportunity, while West Ham sought to exploit counterattacks, attacking the spaces in the back of the opposing defense.
Despite having shot more, the Italians did not have the best chances in the second half. With only 5 shots on goal, the English managed to create two great opportunities, taking advantage of one of them at the end of the game and giving final numbers to the match.
From Lucas Paquetá’s foot, the pass found Bowen at speed, behind the defenders, with only the goalkeeper in front of him. The English striker does not hesitate, hits the ball hard, and scores the goal that brought glory to the East London team.
West Ham is the champion of the second edition of the UEFA Conference League. The English team joins Roma as the only champions of this new tournament, which is the third tier of UEFA.
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