West Ham 2-1 AZ: Antonio the Hammers hero in semi-final first leg

A goal down at the break, West Ham rallied in their UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final first leg, a Said Benrahma penalty and Michail Antonio's close-range finish enough to give them the lead.

Match in brief: Hammers nail comeback

Tijjani Reijnders (centre) after opening the scoring for AZGetty Images

Benrahma had a curling effort turned round the post early on, but West Ham were not destined for an easy night. The visitors took the lead shortly before half-time, with Tijjani Reijnders' powerful long-range effort squirming under the grasp of Alphonse Areola.

The Hammers pressed for an equaliser in the second half, and were offered a golden opportunity when AZ goalkeeper Mathew Ryan collided with Jarrod Bowen in the box. Benrahma made no mistake with a powerful penalty to get the home team level.

Not long afterwards, the hosts' turnaround was complete. After Nayef Aguerd's header from a corner was blocked on the line, Antonio reacted fastest to force in and complete a dramatic turnaround.

Lynsey Hooper, West Ham reporter

AZ stunned the Hammers to go ahead in the first half somewhat against the run of play, and for a while the visitors looked comfortable. However, the appetite and determination David Moyes has come to expect in this European campaign returned, Benrahma levelling with a rocket of a penalty before Antonio turned the tie around. West Ham have a valuable, slender lead to take to the Netherlands, but so much still to do to book a place in the final.

Derek Brookman, AZ reporter

It is a measure of how well AZ played that they will almost certainly be bitterly disappointed to be going back to the Netherlands without having secured at least a draw. A mature, calm and confident performance was undone in a moment with the penalty, and after that West Ham moved up through the gears. Still, plenty of cause for optimism as we look ahead to next week's return leg.

Reaction 

David Moyes, West Ham manager: "We've got a narrow lead but nothing more than that. The tie is very evenly balanced; there is very little in the game, if we were losing by a goal I wouldn't be saying we were out of the tie. I'm pleased we've got ourselves in front, which is a big thing. It was a difficult night."

Michail Antonio, West Ham forward: "[My goal] was just instinct. I always want to be in and around and wait for something to drop. This one dropped perfectly for me to put it in the back of the net and hopefully they can keep coming for me like that."

Pascal Jansen, AZ coach: "I saw a team that wasn't scared to show what it can do. We controlled large parts of the match. We were good on the ball, and aggressive without it. In the end we left with a narrow defeat, but now it's up to us to turn things round."

Tijjani Reijnders, AZ Alkmaar goalscorer, speaking to UEFA.com: "We showed what we can do. We just have to produce the same type of performance next week. I don't think we need to be intimidated by West Ham."

West Ham's Said Benrahma after levelling from the spot against AZGetty Images

Key stats

• Antonio moved ahead of Bowen to become West Ham's all-time top scorer in UEFA competition with nine goals.
• AZ have lost all seven away games against English clubs.
• West Ham remain unbeaten in Europe this season (W12 D1) and have won their last four European matches against Dutch opposition.
• Hope remains for AZ: they have scored two or more in 11 of their last 14 European matches, and are unbeaten in their last 25 UEFA games in Alkmaar (W17 D8).

Line-ups

West Ham: Areola; Kehrer, Aguerd, Zouma, Cresswell; Souček, Rice; Bowen, Paquetá, Benrahma (Fornals 90); Antonio (Ings 79)

AZ: Ryan; Sugawara, Beukema, Hatzidiakos, De Wit; Clasie, Reijnders, Mijnans; Van Brederode (Mihailovic 79), Pavlidis, Odgaard (Lahdo 68)