Soccer-Hammers beat AZ Alkmaar to grab place in the final

Substitute Pablo Formals scored a breakaway goal in stoppage time as West Ham United secured a 1-0 win at AZ Alkmaar on Thursday and a place in the Europa Conference League final after a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

Substitute Pablo Formals scored a breakaway goal in stoppage time as West Ham United secured a 1-0 win at AZ Alkmaar on Thursday and a place in the Europa Conference League final after a 3-1 aggregate triumph. The Hammers are through to a European club competition final for the first time in almost a half century after a 2-1 win in the first leg in London last week and last gasp 1-0 triumph in Thursday's return leg against the Dutch side.

West Ham, who won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965 and finished runners-up in the same competition in 1976, put up a dogged showing despite looking tired and spending much of the same time chasing their hosts. The final is in Prague on June 7 against either FC Basel or Fiorentina.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Johannesburg; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)