David Moyes was relieved to see his West Ham recover from a goal down to beat AZ Alkmaar 2-1 in their Europa Conference League semi-final but warned his players still have a "big job" to finish the tie off next week in the Netherlands.
Goals from Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio kept West Ham’s dreams of a first trophy in 43 years alive at a sold-out London Stadium.
The Hammers were big favourites to beat the Dutch dark horses, but were put on the back foot when goalkeeper Alphonse Areola gifted AZ the lead before half time.
But another goalkeeping error from Australia international Mathew Ryan gave West Ham a penalty which Benrahma converted. Antonio then prodded home from a corner after a goalmouth scramble to give the Hammers a crucial lead going into next Thursday’s return leg. “We’ve got a narrow lead but nothing more than that,” said Moyes. “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.