HIGHLIGHTS - FIO 1-2 WHU, UEFA Europa Conference League: Bowen late goal helps West Ham clinch title

AND THAT IS IT! WEST HAM WINS THE UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE IN STYLE! A moment that will go down in history as West Ham secure their first major trophy in more than 50 years. The Eden Area is absolutely electrifying as West Ham fans dominate and deservedly so! European glory for West Ham as David Moyes is visibly emotional. Bowen looks absolutely ecstatic and he should be! Meanwhile, Declan Rice might have played his last match for West Ham and the skipper must be on cloud nine, after getting a farewell of this kind.

OUT: Antonio, IN: Ogbonna

BOWEN MIGHT HAVE JUST WON IT FOR WEST HAM!!! RIGHT BEFORE THE STROKE OF THE FINAL WHISTLE, HE HAS DONE IT! This could well be the first major trophy for West Ham in more than 50 years. Absolute scenes in Prague. Paqueta with a brillitant through ball towards a running Bowen, who advanced inside the box and slotted it below Terracciano to give the Hammers the lead at a very crucial juncture. FIVE ADDED MINUTES

Amrabat tries for an ambitious long ranger but Areola saves it without much trouble

Amrabat is shown the yellow for his sliding tackle on Emerson

OUT: Ranieri, IN: Igor

Rice gets the ball just outside the box, he sends in a hopeful curler but it had more pace than intended as the ball goes out for a goal kick

WHAT A SAVE! Terracciano dives full length to his right to stop Souchek’s shot

Duncan, a Fiorentina player on the sidelines, gets booked for his celebrations for Bonaventura’s goal. Speaks volumes about the intensity of this tie!

Gonzalez charges forward for Fiorentina on the right, he changes the passage to the left as he found Saponara, who tries to cross it but gets intercepted

OUT: Benrahma, IN: Fornals

Milenkovic is shown the yellow for a rash tackle

CHANCE! Mandragora curls narrowly wide as Fiorentina almost strike back-to-back blows

Antonio gets the ball near the box from Paqueta, runs past the defense with just Terraciano between him and the goal but he hit it straight to the keeper, the flag goes up immediately though

Bonaventura pulls one back immediately!!! Fiorentina looked threatening for a while and have been rewarded for that. Gonzalez won back the posession mid air with a superb header, deflecting the ball towards Bonaventura, who struck a pin point right footer into the bottom left corner

Gonzales with a dangerous run as he advances into the box before letting out a cross towards Cabral, whose shot gets blocked. Fiorentina claim for a hand ball this time but it is unsuccessful

Benrahma scores!! Cool as a cucumber! Brilliant penalty, slotted into the right top corner, the goalkeeper dives the wrong way. Benrahma has now converted 6/6 penalties for the Hammers this season!

OUT: Kouame, IN: Saponara

OUT: Zouma IN: Kehrer

Bowen gets a long throw inside the box towards Bowen. West Ham players are claimin a handball and VAR intervenes. Biraghi looks guilty and it’s almost certain the Hammers will get a penalty here! Bowen tried to control the ball with his chest, Biraghi runs into him and his right hand touched the ball. AND THAT IS A PENALTY. Benrahma will take the kick

Dodo on the right tries to break away from Benrahma but the man marking is just on point. Fiorentina is forced to back track

Aguerd is booked for the challenge

Another collision! Gonzalez and Aguerd clash while fighting for a long ball. Aguerd’s elbow finds Gonzalez’ hip

The match is getting more and more physical as each minute passes. Benrahma hits Amarbat on the face, as they both challenged for the ball, but gets away with it

Bowen goes down inside the penalty area and stays down for a while as the ball goes away for a corner. VAR might come into play, nothing concrete as the game continues. Bowen sends a curler in but it gets cleared quite easily

Dodo looks dangerous yet again but this time Benrahma and Zouma converge on to him to clear the ball away. Counter from West Ham as Antonio broke free but he is fouled and it’s a free kick for the Hammers

Bright start for Fiorentina as Dodo initiates an attack on the right flank. He floats one inside the box but it is cleared away

West Ham gets the ball rolling. Drama from the get go as Ranieri is down in pain after a challenge from Aguerd

OUT: Jovic, IN: Cabral

West Ham United’s Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina is the pinnacle of David Moyes’s career, the manager said on Tuesday as he called on his players to end the Premier League club’s 43-year wait for silverware. - Read the full story ​​HERE​​

An entertaining half comes to an end as Fiorentina almost took the lead right at the stroke of half time until the linesman intervened. Both the teams have had a couple of chances in front of the goal but as of now, the game is equally poised.

Fiorentina are denied a goal by the offside flag. Brilliant cross from Gonzalez towards Kouame, who heads it to the far corner but Areola gets his fingers on the ball as it crashes on to the crossbar, Jovic gets it on the rebound and tries a shot of his own that goes in, but the linesman rises his flag. VAR comes into play and the decision stays

Bonaventura on the right lane, sends in a searching cross but Areola picks it quite comfortably. Meanwhile, FOUR ADDED MINUTES

Free kick for West Ham as Emerson gets fouled at the edge of the box by Kouame. Set piece situation for the Hammers. Emerson lifts it inside the danger area but it is cleared. Coufal gets the ball on the right and tries a cross. It finds Soucek, who shoots but it is saved. By far the best chance for West Ham this half

Corner for West Ham as Dodo gets a foot on Benrahma’s movement. A searching ball comes into the box, targetting Zouma who heads it but takes a deflection away for another corner. Nothing this time as well

Free kick goes West Ham’s way after Kouame’s rash tackle leaves Bowen on the gorund. Nothing comes off it

The agitation from the West Ham fans could be because of what happened before the match. Police detained 16 Fiorentina fans after they were caught attacking West Ham supporters

More on that HERE

Fiorentina captain Biraghi is left bleeding as the crowd threw plastic cans from the stands, one of which hit the number 3. West Ham players go towards their end to advice their fans against such acts. The play has been stopped and Biraghi is getting medical assistance

Wonderful run on the right from Gonzalez as he decieves Rice first and then Emerson. He advances into the final third before getting intercepted via a diving tackle

Benrahma is booked for diving

Bowen gets the ball adjacent to the box on the right, he floats one inside the box, towards Benrahma but Terraciano moves proactively to catch the ball

Antonio is yet again pushed down on the flank, this time by Melankovic but the referee is unmoved. Another protest breaks from the West Ham players but nothing changes

Melankovic gets the ball from the corner from Biraghi, he tries to head it in but overcooks it as the ball goes flying past the goal

Melankovic goes down near the half line, Fiorentina continues to attack and the referee plays an advantage. Soucek and Benrahma link up to advance into the final third, Coufal gets the ball and tries a low kept right footer but the ball gets deflected for a corner

Superb passage of play from Fiorentina. Bonaventura lets out an inch perfect short ball towards Kouame, who links up to Jovic inside the box. He is intercepted by Emerson but the ball comes back to Jovic who shoots from an awkward position that makes it a bit easier for Areola to save

Antonio is pushed down on the right flank by Milenkovic but the referee says play on. Some West Ham players protest but give up on it quickly Fiorentina got ready for a counter

Antonio breaks free and sprinted towards the box but three defenders ambush him to clear the ball

SO CLOSE! Rice fires a right-footed half-volley at the first attempt but skews just wide to the left of goal.

Dangerous counter from West Ham. They yet again regain posession on the flank as Amrabat tried a long ball on the right flank. Bowen got the ball on the right in the final thrid, Antonio and Benrahma rush into the box, Bowen tries a cross but it gets cleared

Dodo and Benrahma collide with each other in an attempt to win a long ball. The Fiorentina number 2 is down and in pain. Medical team rushes into the pitch to check for potential concussion but he’s up in no time

West Ham’s defense is testing the Fiorentina attack. The Italian side has always been superb on the flanks but this time they are not able to progress on either sides

Amrabat initiates an attack as he finds Dodo on the right flank. He turns towards Gonzalez who plays it in towards Mandragora but Zouma cuts and clears the ball to safety

Gonzalez is down inside the box as Rice intercepts and collects the ball from him. Replay shows Rice’s hand unintentionally brushing Gonzalez’ nose, nothing serious

Counter from West Ham, who are donning whites, as Antonio tries a long ranger. But it goes straight into Terraciano’s hands

Fiorentina starts left to right. Quick attack from the Serie A side as they take the ball inside the opposition’s box but gets dispossesed in the final third.

Just under 10 minutes for kick off. The players have lined up inside the tunnel and are ready to take the field!

The UEFA Conference league was inaugurated just 2 years ago in 2021 and Roma clinched the title by beating Feyenoord 1-0 in the final.

The captain’s armband at West Ham United has been worn by legendary players in the past, such as Bobby Moore, Paolo Di Caneo and the 24-year-old Rice has thrived under that pressure. Read the full story by our correspondent Anish Pathiyil

Fiorentina: W-W-W-L-L

West Ham: W-W-W-D-W

Fiorentina will take on West Ham United in the final of the UEFA Conference League at the Eden Arena in Prague on Thursday (IST).

West Ham and Fiorentina haven’t won a European trophy for more than 50 years.

The drought will end for one of them when they play out the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday in Prague.

West Ham earned its lone European title in 1965, the old European Cup Winners’ Cup. Alan Sealey scored twice to beat 1860 Munich 2-0 at Wembley Stadium.

The Hammers reached the final of the same competition in 1976. En route to this, West Ham’s third European final, forward Jarrod Bowen contributed four goals and can’t wait to play it.

“I’ve played for England, but I think achieving this with your teammates who you’ve been with together to get to a final and you have the opportunity to win a trophy together, it will be a massive moment,” Bowen said.

“We’re all excited about being in the final of a European competition and this will be the pinnacle for a lot of players. It will certainly be the biggest game of my career.”

Fiorentina’s only European trophy was also the Cup Winners’ Cup, the first one back in 1961 when it defeated Rangers in a two-leg final 4-1 on aggregate.

By reaching the second finale of the Europa Conference League, Fiorentina has become the first club to contest a final in four major continental competitions.

Fiorentina was defeated by Real Madrid for the 1957 European Cup (the forerunner of the Champions League), and by Juventus in the 1990 UEFA Cup final. It also failed to win the Cup Winners’ Cup back to back, losing the 1962 final to Atletico Madrid.

Fiorentina has had a good buildup. It played the Italian Cup final two weeks ago and was beaten by Inter Milan 2-1. That’s the only loss for the Florence-based club in its last six matches. The last warmup for the Conference final was beating Sassuolo 3-1 last Friday for an eighth-place finish in Serie A.

“We needed this victory,” Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Italiano said. “Now we have a mountain to climb but we will be aiming for the summit in Prague.”

Despite struggling to a 14th-place finish in the English Premier League, West Ham has been a European title contender for a second straight year under manager David Moyes.

Following a campaign to the Europa League semifinals a year ago, West Ham marched to Prague as the only undefeated team in the third-tier Europa Conference League. West Ham won 13 games including qualifying, and was held by Gent to 1-1 in the first leg of their quarterfinal. The Hammers were the first club to win all six group stage encounters.

At Eden Arena in the Czech capital, West Ham will face a team that scored the most goals in the campaign, 36, led by forward Arthur Cabral’s seven.

The reward for the winner of the final is not just a trophy but also a berth in the Europa League next season.

The first Conference final was won by José Mourinho’s Roma against Feyenoord 1-0 in Tirana, Albania a year ago.

-AP

Fiorentina: Pietro Terracciano; Dodo, Nikola Milenkovic, Luca Ranieri, Cristiano Biraghi (capt); Giacomo Bonaventura, Sofyan Amrabat, Rolando Mandragora; Nicolas Gonzalez, Luka Jovic, Christian Kouame

West Ham United: Alphonse Areola; Vladimir Coufal, Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd, Emerson; Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice (capt), Lucas Paqueta; Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio, Said Benrahma

When does the UEFA Conference league final between Fiorentina and West Ham start?

The kick-off of the UEFA Conference league final between Fiorentina and West Ham is at 12:30am IST.

Where can I watch the UEFA Conference league final between Fiorentina and West Ham live?

The UEFA Conference league final between Fiorentina and West Ham can be streamed live on the Sony LIV app/website. The match will also be telecast on the Sony Sports Network.