West Ham advanced to their first European final in 47 years on Thursday night with a 1-0 win over AZ Alkmaar in their Conference League semifinal, thanks to a goal by Pablo Fornals.
West Ham won the game 3-1 on aggregate, meaning they will take on Fiorentina in the cup final on 7 June.
However, the game was marred by incidents that took place off the pitch, involving both sets of fans.
According to Sky Sports News, a number of AZ supporters broke through a fence and attacked the West Ham contingent seated in a reserved section at the AZ Stadium.
A number of West Ham players were forced to intervene, with video footage emerging of Lucas Paqueta extremely animated, as well as Declan Rice, Aaron Cresswell and other players from the London club.
West Ham vs AZ Alkmaar
🚨 Benrahma, Cresswell, Paqueta and Flynn Downes fighting to defend the relatives of the Algerian player, who were attacked by AZ supporters! 👊🏽
AZ 'ultras' stormed the area and started punching people. 👀
pic.twitter.com/k8hb58Xmwr— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) May 19, 2023
Speaking after the game, manager David Moyes implied that the players were bothered by the fact that AZ supporters had made it into a section where the players' family and friends were watching the game.
West Ham fan "Knollsy" protecting the family stand and fending off AZ ultras
pic.twitter.com/C7XoXlxBBa— West Ham Central (@WestHam_Central) May 19, 2023
West Ham supporter Knollsy was key in fighting back the ultras.
Knollsy the legend. Stopped the home fans from getting to the players’ families. Give him a ticket for the final @WestHam @WestHamHelp @AwayDays_ #COYI pic.twitter.com/Rs8RhTvU1m
— freddie bonfanti (@freddiebonfa) May 18, 2023
Fornals agreed that he and his teammates' main concern was the safety of family members who were in attendance at the game.
Pablo Fornals on West Ham vs AZ Alkmaar fans
🗣️ "We don't need that, really concerned with how the family of my teammates and West Ham family are."
Pablo Fornals on the full-time incident involving AZ Alkmaar fans and family members of West Ham pic.twitter.com/57xoUnXVgk— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 18, 2023
Shortly after the incident took place, Dutch police issued a statement which read: "So far, no arrests have been made. Our aim was to disperse the crowd and restore order as quickly as possible, in which we succeeded.
"The police will investigate footage of the incidents and try to identify supporters. Arrests may follow from this.
"Together with AZ, the municipality of Alkmaar and the public prosecution service we will evaluate last night's incidents, which we regret having happened. This kind of behaviour has no place in football."
UEFA have said they're investigating the incident.
Next up for West Ham is a home game against Leeds, before travelling to Leicester on the final day of the season.
