West Ham United: Gary Lineker reacts to Conference League win v AZ Alkmaar on Twitter
BBC presenter Gary Lineker was left stunned by the “brilliant” performance of West Ham United in their famous 1-0 Europa Conference League semi-final win over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday [18 May].
The Hammers reached their first major European final since 1976 after they overcame the Dutch outfit on their own turf.
Having won the first leg at London Stadium 2-1, the Hammers were resolute away to their Dutch opponents, reaching the final in Prague on 7 June with a 1-0 second-leg win after Pablo Fornals made sure of the result late on in injury time.
And taking to his personal Twitter account [18 May] after the game, Lineker was left stunned by the West Ham United result and performance as David Moyes’ men made history.
He tweeted: “What a brilliant night for West Ham. Well played.”
Sensational
West Ham United were simply sensational during their 1-0 win at the AFAS stadium after what’s been a rather difficult domestic campaign.
Moyes and his men simply came up trumps with their organised, dogged and resolute display when they desperately needed it.
The Hammers were well aware of the threat AZ pose through their progressive and expansive possession-based style but the way they were set up meant the Dutch Eredivisie outfit simply could not play the way wanted to.
And West Ham United impressively showed how you win a semi-final, it simply can’t all be flamboyant football as Manchester City showed against Real Madrid the other night, but playing to your strengths as well as stifling the threat of your opponents and that’s what the Hammers did on Thursday night.
It has been a difficult domestic season for the East Londoners but this performance showed just how far Moyes has taken them, reaching a first European final since 1976. Can they take that giant step further now?
Well played indeed.