West Ham are winners in Europe once more. It’s been a long time. Too long, really, but at the Stadion Maksimir their 2,000 supporters were partying like it was 1999.
1999 was the last time West Ham won a European tie which wasn’t a qualifier — a 3-1 victory against another Croatian side, Osijek. Dinamo Zagreb were likewise no match for West Ham here.
The party started with a gift — an under-hit back pass by Kevin Theophile-Catherine — but that was also prompted by West Ham’s high press. Michail Antonio stole the ball and scored his fifth goal this season as he continued to show why he’s wearing the No 9 shirt.
Captain Declan Rice made it 2-0 in the second half. The 22-year-old England international won the ball in his own half then strode towards the opposition’s goal, scoring through the goalkeeper’s legs.
On paper, Zagreb was West Ham’s toughest game in a group which also includes Genk and Rapid Vienna. For the visitors, this was worth dusting off the passports and paying for those fit-to-fly Covid tests. They saw a superb performance against a side used to competing in Europe.
West Ham manager David Moyes deserves credit for playing it perfectly. From how his side hurried their opponents in the first half, to their more compact shape in the second, to removing the already-cautioned Manuel Lanzini when he looked like a walking red card.
‘It’s something which is new,’ Moyes said of West Ham in Europe. ‘Certainly new to Declan Rice, for example. He’s played international football for his country but not for his club.’
Moyes feels West Ham have entered the unknown. ‘I’m really excited by not knowing how good they can be,’ he said after the match.