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65 min Fiorentina have briefly lost the head, and it’s West Ham who are keeping the ball in the opposition half. They were angry with the penalty decision, which you can understand even though it was pretty clear by modern standards.
64 min The replay shows it wasn’t that good a penalty, or at least it wasn’t right in the top corner, but Terracciano went the wrong way so it doesn’t matter one bit.
63 min Before the penalty, Fiorentina also made a substitution: Riccardo Saponara for Christian Kouame.
It was a terrific penalty, sidefooted high to his right. Terracciano went the wrong way. West Ham have barely had a kick – and they’re ahead!
GOAL! Fiorentina 0-1 West Ham (Benrahma 62 pen)
Benrahma scores emphatically!
61 min: Said Benrahama is going to take the penalty. Before he does so, the injured Zouma is replaced by Thilo Kehrer.
60 min: PENALTY TO WEST HAM!
Bowen controlled a long throw on the chest, and the ball then hit the outstretched fist of Biraghi. He punched it, essentially.
This should be a penalty.
58 min: West Ham penalty appeal! Bowen is certain there was a handball in the area by Biraghi. The referee ignores him, but it will be checked by VAR.
58 min Kouame’s tame long-range shot bounces into the arms of Areola. That’s Fiorentina’s first shot on target.
57 min “Do you find watching West Ham here is really reminiscent of watching 2000s England?” says Edan Tal. “Their nerves are sending them deeper and deeper and they can’t put three passes together.”
I like that comparison, although England tended to do it at 1-0 rather than 0-0.
56 min West Ham can’t get out at the moment. They are still defending well but this is a dangerous game to play for 90 minutes, never mind 120.
54 min Aguerd and Gonzalez are fine to continue.
52 min Aguerd is booked for a fractionally late aerial challenge on Gonzalez. Both players landed awkwardly and are being checked. The yellow card seems a bit harsh.
50 min Now Gonzalez goes down holding his face after being brushed by the flailing arm of Benrahma. Again, the referee isn’t interested, which is a good job for West Ham because Benrahma has already been booked.
49 min West Ham appeal for a penalty when Bowen goes down holding his head after a challenge from behind by Biraghi. The referee isn’t interested, nor is VAR. I think Biraghi’s arm caught Bowen on the back of the head, but not firmly enough for it to be a penalty.
48 min Antonio leads a West Ham break near the halfway line and is legged up by Gonzalez, a needless challenge because Antonio had almost no support.
47 min Fiorentina pick up where they left off before half-time, with crosses from Dodo and Mandragora being cleared by the West Ham defence.
46 min Peep peep! West Ham begin the second half, and Soucek immediately flattens Ranieri while jumping for a high ball.
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Fiorentina have made a half-time substitution Arthur Cabral, the tournament’s joint top-scorer, is replacing Luka Jovic up front.
“Here’s the thing with Paul Tanner’s email from about an hour ago,” begins Russell Yong. “I haven’t done the hard math on this but, conservatively speaking, 90 per cent of the teams who qualify for the Champions League do so almost every year, and I don’t just mean the group stage, I mean from the earliest qualifying rounds.
“The top level of the game is now so stratified by who gets the same whack of cash every year, and the second level (the Europa League-zone teams) is getting there too. The Conference League, for better or worse, is UEFA’s solution to ensuring a fairer distribution of revenue to more European clubs, the ones who won’t ‘just’ make the Europa League every year, much less the Champions League.
“People who dissent would do well to study the prize money distribution, including (for this season) €260,000 if you’re a league champion who fails to make it to the group stage of any of the three tiers of UEFA competition. The sort of money that is piddling to the 7th best team in England but could make a world of difference to a club from, say, San Marino or Latvia, the sort of countries we’re content bemoaning the standard of in European competition but apparently also won’t support motions that could help them improve.
“So yeah, call it a Mickey Mouse competition if you will, and it’s your freedom to not care about it, but if you’re going to dismiss it, don’t turn around and say UEFA never did anything for you or anyone.”
Half-time reading
Half time: Fiorentina 0-0 West Ham
An interesting tactical battle in Prague, but not – yet – an exciting game of football. The most notable incident in the first half, alas, was the Fiorentina left back Cristiano Biraghi having the back of his head cut by an object thrown from the West Ham end.
West Ham have defended well – Fiorentina have had around 70 per cent of possession and no shots on target – but they have struggled to keep the ball, and at times Michail Antonio has been bullied by the two Fiorentina centre-halves.
See you in 15 minutes for the second half.
NO GOAL! The decision is confirmed – Jovic was fractionally offside.
A deep inswinging cross from Gonzalez was met by Kouame, who thumped a terrific header off the post. Jovic put the loose ball away, diving bravely in front of a West Ham boot, and was then flagged offside. It’s still being checked.
This is really tight – the goal might be given.
45+4 min: Jovic has a goal disallowed! This will be checked, it can only be for offside.
45+4 min This time he takes it short to Amrabat, whose cross is cleared.
45+3 min Another corner on the right for Fiorentina. Biraghi, wearing his purple bandage, walks over to take it…
45+2 min “I appreciate the attention to detail of whoever it was at Fiorentina that ordered bandages in purple,” writes Kári Tulinius. “I wish all professional clubs were this committed to their bit.”
45+1 min Gonzalez plays a terrific first-time pass to the underlapping Bonaventura, who stands up a deep cross that is headed away by Coufal.
45+1 min Four minutes, to be precise.
45 min There will be plenty of added time because of the delay when Biraghi was hit by something thrown from the crowd.
44 min “That Fiorentina kit remains magnificent doesn’t it, although a shame they’ve not reverted to 7-Up as the sponsor for full 90s nostalgia,” says David Hopkins. “The hipster choice from that time was Batistuta of course but this Rams fan of a certain age can’t help but think of Francesco Baiano.”
44 min The free-kick is probably too wide for a shot. Emerson floats it to the far post, where Ranieri heads clear. West Ham regain possession – this is their best spell – and Coufal’s very deep cross is headed back into a dangerous area by Soucek. There’s nobody there for West Ham and Fiorentina clear.
42 min The second corner leads to a snapshot from Rice, 17 yards out, that is blocked. Then Emerson is fouled 25 yards from goal by Kouame.
41 min West Ham get their first corner, incorrectly awarded after Benrahma ran at Dodo. Emerson’s outswinger is headed behind for another by Milenkovic.
40 min It’s been pretty quiet since the resumption. David Moyes is apparently unhappy with West Ham’s performance, which is no surprise as they haven’t kept the ball well enough. They’ve actually defended well, Aguerd in particular.
