SOCCER - EUROPA LEAGUE
2023/24
Group A - TSC (1) @ (3) West Ham - West Ham got their Europa League campaign off to a winning start with a comeback win over Serbian side TSC. TSC took a shock lead early in the 2nd half, but West Ham countered with 3 unanswered goals to secure the home win. The West Ham goals came from Mohammed Kudus, Tomas Soucek and an own-goal. The TSC goal came from Petar Stanic (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Mason/Hutchinson, PAL)
Group A - West Ham (2) @ (1) Freiburg - On a record-breaking night in Germany, West Ham beat Freiburg to stay unbeaten in the Europa League. With the win West Ham became the first English side to go 17 consecutive games in European competition without defeat. 1 goal in each half from Lucas Paqueta and Nayef Aguerd did the damage. The Freiburg goal came Roland Sallai (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Darke/Savage, PAL)
Group A - Olympiacos (0) @ (1) West Ham - West Ham avenged their loss to Olympiacos 2 weeks earlier with a late winner at the London Stadium. A Lucas Paqueta volleyed goal 17 minutes from time gave West Ham victory and guaranteed European Football after the group stage is over. West Ham controlled possession (56%) and shots on goal (14) while holding Olympiacos to zero shots on goal (9, No Pre-Game - Missing between 1:52 and 2:35 of the 1st half - No scoring missed, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Darke/Hutchinson, PAL)
Group A - West Ham (1) @ (0) TSC - A 2nd-string West Ham overcame a resilient performance by TSC and, with the win, guaranteed themselves Europa League Football in 2024. A Tomas Soucek goal in the 89th minute, from a Maxwell Cornet cross, did the damage and broke TSC hearts (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Bower/Allen, PAL)
Group A - Freiburg (0) @ (2) West Ham - West Ham finished the Group Stage top of their group with a comfortable win over Freiburg at the London Stadium. 2 goals in the 1st half from Mohammed Kudus and Edson Alvarez (his first for West Ham) gave the Hammers the lead and they defended well in the 2nd half to take the win (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Darke/Ward, PAL)
Group B - AEK Athens (3) @ (2) Brighton - AEK Athens spoiled the party at the Amex Stadium, as they capitalised on Brighton errors to beat the Seagulls who were playing in their 1st ever European game. High-scoring Brighton dominated possession (75%) but AEK converted 3 of their 6 shots on target into goals, with the game-winner coming in the 84th minute. The AEK goals came from Djibril Sidibé, Mijat Gacinovic and Ezequiel Ponce. Both the Brighton goals came from João Pedro (2) and they were both penalties. Brighton also featured on-loan Barcelona star Ansu Fati, who was making his debut (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Summerton/Virgo, PAL)
Group B - Brighton (2) @ (2) Marseille - Brighton fought back from 2 goals down to earn their first point in European football at the Stade Vélodrome in the South of France. Marseille stunned the Seagulls with 2 goals in 2 minutes in the 1st half, but Brighton re-grouped at half-time and fought their way back into the game. With 2 minutes to play, Brighton won and converted a penalty to seal the comeback and earn a point. The Brighton goals came from Pascal Gross and João Pedro. The Marseille goals came from Chancel Mbemba and Jordan Veretout (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Summerton/Ward, PAL)
Group B - Ajax (0) @ (2) Brighton - Brighton claimed an historic first win in European football against a struggling Ajax team at the Amex Stadium. Ajax, who were 2nd-bottom in the Eredivisie after the worst start to a season in their history, set out defensively to frustrate the home team but goals either side of half-time from Joao Pedro and Ansu Fati earned the win for the Seagulls (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Darke/Virgo, PAL)
Group B - Brighton (2) @ (0) Ajax - Brighton's chances of reaching the knockout stage remained high after a big win over a youthful Ajax side in Amsterdam. 1 goal in each half, from Ansu Fati and Simon Adringa did the damage. The Ajax starting line-up had an average age of 21.6 years (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Summerton/Savage, PAL)
Group B - Brighton (1) @ (0) AEK Athens - Brighton sensationally booked a place in the knockout stages of the Europa League with a hard-fought win in Greece. After a scoreless 1st half, Brighton took the lead with a 55th minute penalty from Joao Pedro. The game then turned in the Seagulls favour when AEK were reduced to 10 men when forward Mijat Gacinovic was sent off for 2 yellow cards. Brighton took control of the match from that point and easily saw out the game for the win (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Wyeth/Virgo, PAL)
Group B - Marseille (0) @ (1) Brighton - On an emotional night at the Amex Stadium, Brighton scored a late winner to sensationally finish top of their group. The Seagulls knew they needed a win to top the group above Marseille, and the French team defended stoutly to deny them. But in the 88th minute, Joao Pedro scored a dramatic winner to end the stalemate and send the Brighton fans wild (9, No Pre-Game, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Summerton/Virgo, PAL)
Last 16, 1st leg - Brighton (0) @ (4) Roma - At the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Roma put one foot in the Quarter Finals with a scintillating performance against Brighton. 2 goals in each half did the damage as the home side capitalised on bad defending and mistakes from the Seagulls to take control of the game. The Roma goals came from Paulo Dybala, Romelu Lukaku, Gianluca Mancini and Bryan Cristante (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Summerton/Virgo, PAL)
Last 16, 2nd Leg - Roma (0) @ (1) Brighton - Brighton's fairytale run in the Europa League came to end as they failed to overturn a 4-0 1st leg deficit in the 2nd leg. Despite a 1st half goal from Danny Welbeck, the hosts couldn't convert any more of their chances and Roma ran out easy winners, and booked their place in the Quarter Finals (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Summerton/Virgo, PAL)
Last 16, 1st leg - West Ham (0) @ (1) Freiburg - Frieburg punished West Ham for a lack-lustre performance, scoring the only goal to take a small lead in the tie. West Ham controlled possession but failed to capitalise and Freiburg took advantage, scoring the only goal from Michael Gregoritsch with 9 minutes to play (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Dempsey/Hutchinson, PAL)
Last 16, 2nd leg - Freiburg (0) @ (5) West Ham - At the London Stadium, West Ham overturned their 1st Leg deficit to record their largest ever European win and advance to the Quarter Finals. Right from the start, West Ham dominated the game, and the Hammers built on a 2-0 lead at the break with 3 goals in the 2nd half to seal the win. The West Ham goals came from Lucas Paquetá, Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Cresswell and Mohammed Kudus (2) whose 1st goal was a spectacular 70 metre run and finish (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Dempsey/Savage, PAL)
Quarter Final, 1st Leg - West Ham (0) @ (2) Bayer Leverkusen - Bayer Leverkusen put one foot in the Semi-Finals with a hard-fought win at the BayArena in Leverkusen. West Ham defended stoutly but their resistance was broken when Leverkusen scored 2 goals in the final 7 minutes to take a big advantage to the 2nd leg. The Leverkusen goals came from Jonas Hofmann and Victor Boniface (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Darke/Savage, PAL)
Quarter Final, 2nd Leg - Bayer Leverkusen (1) @ (1) West Ham - Bayer Leverkusen overcame a passionate London Stadium crowd to hold off the Hammers and book their place in the Semi-Finals. West Ham took the game to Bayer in the 1st half and got back in the tie with a 13th minute goal from Michail Antonio. But the visitors held on and after half-time, strangled the life out of the game and equalised with a goal in the last minute from Jeremie Frimpong to keep their season-long unbeaten streak alive (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Darke/Savage, PAL)
Semi-Final, 1st leg - Bayer Leverkusen (2) @ (0) Roma - Bayer Leverkusen took a big step towards the final with a comfortable win at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. A goal in each half did the damage, while a great Defensive effort saw the home side restricted to only 2 shots on target in the game. The Bayer Leverkusen goals came from Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Darke/Savage, PAL)
Semi-Final, 2nd leg - Roma (2) @ (2) Bayer Leverkusen - In an sensational game at the BayArena in Leverkusen, the home side held off a spirited fightback by Roma to book their place in the Europa League Final. Down 2-0 from the 1st leg, Roma equalised the tie with 2 penalties from Leandro Paredes. Bayer re-took the lead with an own-goal but their season-long unbeaten streak was in jeopardy. With the last kick of the game, though, Josip Stanisic scored and Bayer had set a new European unbeaten record of 49 successive games (9, 2 Discs, TNT Sports - Darke/Savage, PAL)
Final - Atalanta (3) @ (0) Bayer Leverkusen - In a big upset at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, Atalanta won their first ever European trophy with a shock win over Bayer Leverkusen, who were riding a 51-match unbeaten streak. Both teams were evenly matched, but Atalanta took their chances when they came, with striker and man-of-the-match Ademola Lookman scoring all 3 goals. With the 3 goals, Lookman became the first player to score 3 goals in a single-game European final since 1969. Atalanta also featured Éderson and Gianluca Scamacca. Bayer Leverkusen featured Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz (9, 2 Discs, TNT - Summerton/McCoist, PAL)
West Ham in Europe - Highlights of every game West Ham played in the Europa League in 2023-24 (9, 3 Discs, TNT Sports, PAL)
Disc 1
West Ham Europa League Preview - 3 minutes
21/09/23 - TSC (1) @ (3) West Ham - Group A (22 mins)
05/10/23 - West Ham (2) @ (1) Freiburg - Group A (22 mins)
26/10/23 - West Ham (1) @ (2) Olympiacos - Group A (22 mins)
Disc 2
09/11/23 - Olympiacos (0) @ (1) West Ham - Group A (22 mins)
30/11/23 - West Ham (1) @ (0) TSC - Group A (22 mins)
14/12/23 - Freiburg (0) @ (2) West Ham - Group A - (22 mins)
Disc 3
07/03/24 - West Ham (0) @ (1) Freiburg - Last 16, 1st leg (22 mins)
14/03/24 - Freiburg (0) @ (5) West Ham - Last 16, 2nd leg (22 mins)
11/04/24 - West Ham (0) @ (2) Bayer Leverkusen - Quarter Final, 1st leg (22 mins)
18/04/24 - Bayer Leverkusen (1) @ (1) West Ham - Quarter Final, 2nd leg (22 mins)