AZ Alkmaar defender Sam Beukema believes he came up against a ‘top striker’ in Michail Antonio during Thursday’s 2-1 UEFA Conference League semi-final first leg defeat at West Ham United.
One year after suffering final-four heartbreak against Eintracht Frankfurt, it seemed that David Moyes’ West Ham United side were going to find themselves on the wrong end of the finest of margins once again at the London Stadium.
Said Benhrama was denied by a wonderful Matt Ryan save. Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta mistimed good headed chances. Antonio himself could have found himself one-on-one too, only for Paqueta to overhit the simplest of through balls.
And that’s without mentioning Tijjani Reijnders’ highly controversial opener late in the first-half.
A raucous second ‘45, then, elicited an outpouring of both relief and belief from the London Stadium stands.
Unlike against Frankfurt, West Ham fought back from such adversity; Benrahma slamming home a penalty before Antonio stabbed in from a typical Hammers set-piece, putting the claret-and-blues within touching distance of a first European final since 1976.
West Ham beat AZ Alkmaar thanks to Michail Antonio winner
And AZ defender Beukema, who admitted this week to being a West Ham supporter, was disappointed to see Antonio snaffle a late winner, having spent much of the previous 75 minutes wrestling with a man who’s physicality and aggression caused the visiting defence no end of problems.
“It’s a pity,” Beukema tells ESPN. “(But) it’s good to compete with these kinds of top strikers.
“He was on the ground a few times because he wanted a free kick, which he didn’t get. That gives confidence, but I have to stop him scoring.
“A learning point to take with you.”
A cultured, well-coached AZ side will not be accepting defeat just yet. As Beukema points out, they found themselves 2-0 down after the quarter-final first leg against Anderlecht but still progressed to the next round.
AZ boss Pascal Jansen, meanwhile, will be hoping to see his side cope better with West Ham’s set-piece threat in Alkmaar next week.
“We discussed and trained those corners in detail,” Jansen sighs; all those hours on the training pitch going to waste in the end.
“They are also very good at that. We have to be sharper and get rid of the ball faster.”
“(I am) slightly less satisfied (with the result). But I am still satisfied enough because we can put things right at home. We have shown a high level. We actually kept our control, but then two moments completely turned the game around.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
