West Ham reach quarters of Conference League with win record in tact
The Hammers weren’t resting on their laurels after a comfortable win in the first leg and looked dangerous early on, with Gianluca Scamacca curling an ambitious shot agonisingly wide of the post.
The Italian then marked his first start since early January with a goal in the 21st minute, as having already sloppily conceded possession multiple times, AEK were eventually punished when the striker cut inside Mikel González and squeezed his shot through Kenan Pirić’s grasp.
Both teams hit the back of the net within 10 minutes of the opener, although Scamacca and Nemanja Nikolić had both roamed offside before doing so.
The Guardians were offering hardly any resistance to West Ham’s advances, but Jarrod Bowen fired off target after cutting inside Nikos Englezou, while Pablo Fornals’ attempt struck the crossbar before Ben Johnson’s follow-up proved harmless.
When Gus Ledes finally put in a challenge on Fornals before the break, it was a lazy one that saw the midfielder earn his second red card in a mere 51 minutes of football.
The Hammers capitalised on their man advantage almost immediately after the restart, as Bowen converted after Scamacca’s initial shot was saved.
The winger showed his goalscoring instincts again just two minutes and 19 seconds later, applying a wonderful flick to Aaron Cresswell’s cross, with the looping header marking his 10th goal across all competitions this season.
David Moyes soon made a triple change, and 18-year-old Divin Mubama neatly flicked Tomáš Souček’s header past Pirić for a first senior goal that nobody can take away from him.
Freddie Potts and debutant Levi Laing were also brought on, as West Ham comfortably maintained their unbeaten home record in 2023, with some Hammers fans likely thinking about the UECL quarter-final draw while their side played with freedom.
On the other hand, AEK have won just one of their last seven in all competitions and their longest-ever European run comes to an end.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United)
