Robbie Savage aims fire at Alphonse Areola over AZ opener v West Ham
Robbie Savage took a swipe at West Ham United’s Alphonse Areola for his part in AZ Alkmaar’s opening goal in the Europa Conference League semi-final first leg, live on commentary duty for BT Sport.
He felt that the goalkeeper should have done much better to save Tijjani Reijnders’ effort from outside the box in the 41st minute of the contest at the London Stadium.
The goal came in the first half in which the Hammers produced an underwhelming display with the goal compounding a disappointing start to the tie.
It was a contentious strike with a possible foul on Lucas Paqueta in the build-up which Savage and Ian Darke responded to, as shared on Twitter.
“That has stunned the London Stadium,” said the latter.
“For me, and I don’t know how far VAR can go back but that is a foul from the AZ Alkmaar player,” added Savage.
“The goalkeeper has got to do better. Does it take a deflection? It’s a long way out, I think the goalkeeper has to do better.”
Effective response
The West Ham supporters would have been concerned at half-time but the tuning point came mid-way through the second half when they were awarded a penalty after Mat Ryan barged into Jarrod Bowen, following a corner.
It was a bad error and he was made to pay when Said Benrahma dispatched the penalty with aplomb, into the side netting.
All of a sudden, the energy and intensity increased, as did the noise from the fans.
Just nine minutes later, the Hammers were in the ascendancy when Michail Antonio bundled home from close range, to complete a very effective response to a poor first half.
Areola’s error doesn’t matter so much now with David Moyes’ men taking a lead to the Netherlands for the decider next week.
The tie is delicately balanced ahead of the second leg, with West Ham in the driving seat to secure a place in the Prague final.