West Ham United vs AA Gent . UEFA Conference League Quarter-finals.
London StadiumAttendance53,475.
5-2
Match report as West Ham book their place in the Europa Conference League semi-finals against AZ Alkmaar after blistering second-half blows Gent away at London Stadium; Two goals from Michail Antonio, a penalty from Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice's stunner cancel out Hugo Cuypers' opener
Thursday 20 April 2023 23:14, UK
West Ham booked their second European semi-final in as many years after coming from behind to seal a stunning 5-2 aggregate win over Gent at a rocking London Stadium on Thursday night.
Should the Hammers go on to lift the trophy in Prague on June 7, Declan Rice would become only the third club captain to win silverware after Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds - and it was his stunning solo goal for which this quarter-final second leg will be remembered.
By then, West Ham had wrestled control of the tie with Michail Antonio's firm header (37) and Lucas Paqueta's nerveless spot-kick (55) cancelling out Hugo Cuypers' deserved first-half opener for the visitors (26).
Antonio put the gloss on another memorable European night for David Moyes with his second of the night (63) as the Hammers overwhelmed their opponents with three goals in eight second-half minutes.
But it was Rice's stupendous run and finish, leaving Gent defenders in his wake, which will forever be etched in West Ham folklore if he leads his side onto lifting the trophy in June.
"It was a fabulous goal," Moyes said. "An individual, Roy of the Rovers goal. He is some player with great ability, and that goal just summed him up tonight.
"He is some player. That's why we value him so highly. If anyone doubted whether he could do that, then I would say you are naïve. He has so many parts to his game. He doesn't always show them.
"He's got a good personality, but he can show his personality a bit more and other aspects of his game. Some people think it's not there, but let me tell you it's there."
Rice has had to withstand endless speculation surrounding his future, question marks over his price tag and at times unfair criticism during an abject domestic campaign for West Ham, but on nights like these, it is impossible to ignore the noise.
Not when he is this Rolls-Royce purring as he drives a hole through opposition ranks, gets supporters off their feet and leaves us all so thoroughly entertained. He has been likened to Steven Gerrard, and his superb individual goal just shy of the hour mark brought applause from the press box as well as his adoring fans.
West Ham headed into a big European night in good spirits after easing their domestic relegation worries by coming from 2-0 down to draw with Arsenal on Sunday. By contrast, their opponents had been stuck in London rush-hour traffic, spoiling their pre-match preparations.
It failed to lead to a kick-off delay as they arrived a minute shy of the 7pm cut-off point, but it was West Ham who looked sluggish from the start. Sven Kums had already seen an inviting cross narrowly evade Gift Orban and Cuypers before the latter duly prodded the Belgians ahead.
West Ham, who got to last season's Europa League semi-finals where they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt, struggled to cope with a sweeping move which was sparked after Lucas Paqueta conceded possession with a lazy pass in his own half.
Orban charged forward before crossing for Matisse Samoise at the far post. The wing-back's ball across the box bobbled to Cuypers, who turned the ball past Alphonse Areola and Nayef Aguerd, despite his attempts to block the shot on the line.
West Ham have won four major trophies in their history - the 1964, 1975 and 1980 FA Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965. It was only after Cuypers' opener that Moyes saw any urgency from his players in moving a step closer to a fifth coveted prize.
Claret and blue pieces of paper hitherto used to form a pre-match mosaic were being used as paper aeroplanes by bored Hammers supporters, but Antonio duly brought them to their feet in routine fashion.
Jarrod Bowen's set piece from the right was met by the striker's bullet header beyond Davy Roef, and the roof came off. It wasn't a deserved equaliser, but it provided the platform for a strong end to the opening period from the hosts. In stoppage time, Moyes was left bemused as Said Benrahma's goalbound header struck the arm of Samoise inside the box, but there would be no VAR intervention.
Gent had their reprieve, but then they rolled over after the restart. Referee Orel Grinfeeld waved away initial shouts for a handball after Joseph Okumu attempted to block Vladimir Coufal's cross, but after VAR overturned the initial decision, Paqueta stepped up, shuffled his feet, and arrowed his penalty high beyond Roef.
Hammers fans whipped their smartphones out to create a light show, but they were left astounded by what ensued as Rice took centre stage. They say he doesn't score enough goals, but he will not score one better than this.
Kamil Piatkowski lost his footing, Rice pounced in midfield and off he went, gliding past Julien De Sart and beyond the hapless Okumu with ease. With Roef now in his sights, Rice turned predator, reversing his shot into the bottom corner.
The home fans - and indeed Rice - had barely caught their breath when Antonio heaped further misery on Gent with a well-taken fourth on the counter-attack. Rice was removed long before the final whistle, taking the acclaim of his manager Moyes. This European adventure and joyous escape from the Premier League continues apace.
In his programme notes, Rice wrote: "As I've said many times, we've enjoyed every single minute of our adventures over the past couple of seasons and we don't want our journey to end tonight.
"At this stage of the Europa League last season, we produced arguably our best European performance so far, winning 3-0 at Lyon.
"I honestly don't think we've played better than we did that night in any match over the past two or three years. We need to reach those levels again tonight."
Rice actioned those words in style. He delivered on his promise. His goal wedged in the middle of a breathtaking start to the second period from the hosts was worthy of winning any European quarter-final. It was an iconic moment which effectively decided this contest.
David Moyes said West Ham's back-to-back runs to European semi-finals had helped to build a bond between the club's players and fans.
Speaking to BT Sport, Moyes said: "A brilliant achievement by all the players. It's special. I've been in this job a long time and this doesn't happen very often.
"We started the second half really well. I was angry with the players because we missed two great chances, but we kept our foot to the pedal. We should have probably finished them off even more with the chances we had.
"It's been tough but we've had so many positive things coming from European football. It built a great relationship between the players and supporters because it's special.
"I felt it was really important we got to the semi-final. Gent are a decent side, caused us some problems, and we had to work really hard to get the win.
"All the good teams run into form at this time of year because they have to win things. AZ Alkmaar have got a really good young team so it will be a really hard game."
West Ham visit Bournemouth in the Premier League on Sunday, kick-off 2pm. Gent host Oostende in the Belgian Pro League at 5.30pm on Sunday.
Fiorentina vs Basel
West Ham vs AZ Alkmaar
First leg on May 11 with second leg on May 18
