When it was over most of the statistics pointed to a night of AZ Alkmaar dominance. They had more possession, more shots, more territory and more corners. Yet what AZ lacked was a way of making any of it count and, as hard as they tried to find a way through, it never seemed they were capable of stopping a dogged and professional West Ham from reaching their first European final in 47 years.
Ultimately, for all that their inability to guard possession made for an anxious second half, West Ham would succeed in grinding AZ down. There were, of course, some nervy moments and with 20 minutes remaining Declan Rice could be seen urging his leggy teammates to give it one last push.
Equally it never looked likely that Rice would end on the losing side. He has a plan, to sign off at West Ham by winning the Europa Conference League, and he will have his chance to do so in Prague on 7 June. Rice was outstanding. He was the first to run to Pablo Fornals when the substitute scored the stoppage-time goal that carried West Ham into the final. They were all off the bench and David Moyes, who has endured such a tough season, could dream of winning his first trophy as a manager.
West Ham began with a semblance of control after fighting back from a goal down to win the first leg. AZ had to take it away from them. There were whistles from the crowd as early as the 11th minute, the locals grumbling when Alphonse Areola took too long over a goal kick. AZ wanted the game to be frenetic and West Ham were ready to make it as frustrating as possible.
After all, the visitors did not have to be expansive and they could be reasonably satisfied with their start. They fell into rigid lines without the ball, squeezing the space and limiting AZ’s initial threat to a deflected effort from Jesper Karlsson in the second minute.
During those opening exchanges it was not entirely clear why AZ were unbeaten in 25 European home games. West Ham were simply stronger, fitter and more settled in and out of possession. The tone was set by Rice, who always seemed to be in the right place in midfield, his leadership and positional discipline a constant source of calm.
It was what West Ham needed from their captain. Others would take confidence from him, Nayef Aguerd relieving pressure when he calmly brought the ball out of defence, and the encouraging thing for Moyes was that his side looked capable of causing problems when they increased the intensity in attack.
Mostly the fun began when Lucas Paquetá had the ball. The Brazilian was a delight to watch at times, his footwork a level above, his imagination leaving several AZ players embarrassed, and he went closer than anyone to scoring during the opening period. It seemed that Paquetá had done everything right when he took a pass from Michail Antonio, cut inside from the right and shaped to bend a left-footed shot into the far corner, only for the ball to sail beyond Mat Ryan’s dive and clip the base of the far post.
As the interval approached AZ were reduced to hopeful pot shots from long range. They were playing in front of West Ham and were struggling to get enough bodies into the box. It was too easy for Aguerd and Kurt Zouma to keep heading the crosses away, although there would be one scare before half-time. Yukinari Sugawara was unfortunate to see a shot deflected behind after a scramble in the West Ham area.
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Pascal Jansen needed his young side to show more composure and take more risks in the second half. There was more hope when Milos Kerkez broke through, the left-back’s cross just evading Vangelis Pavlidis. Suddenly AZ were pressing. Sven Mijnans, dribbling past a couple of weak challenges, almost got in on the right. Over on the left Karlsson was starting to give Thilo Kehrer a good game. Gaps were starting to appear and West Ham had to wake up when Tijjani Reijnders almost released Pavlidis.
The response soon came from Rice, his bouncing effort from 25 yards pushed behind by Ryan. Yet West Ham were beginning to wobble. Their wingers, Bowen and Saïd Benrahma, were failing to offer enough and the visitors diced with danger just before the hour, Aguerd fortunate not to be penalised for an awkward challenge on Pavlidis in the area.
West Ham were starting to retreat. Kehrer picked up a booking for wasting time over a throw-in and Areola had to save well from Pantelis Chatzidiakos. The pressure was growing; the only question was whether AZ could break West Ham’s resilience.
In the end, though, West Ham got over the line. They were there when Fornals broke through and scored with a fine low shot.
