Jarrod Bowen strikes at the last to earn Conference League glory for West Ham

It was David Moyes’s moment. Off he went, racing down the touchline, only stopping when he was in front of the fans behind the Fiorentina goal. The clock showed 90 minutes and Jarrod Bowen, released by a beautiful pass from Lucas Paquetá, had raced through to put West Ham within touching distance of their first trophy in 43 years.

They were all off the bench when Bowen’s shot slithered past Pietro Terracciano. West Ham had not played well but it made no difference. Moyes had the first major trophy of his managerial career. Declan Rice, playing in his final game for the club, had joined Bobby Moore as one of two captains to lead West Ham to a major European trophy.

It was the game of Moyes’s life, the 1,097th of his managerial career, and West Ham’s biggest since Steven Gerrard broke their hearts in the 2006 FA Cup final. They are not accustomed to playing in these occasions and the question was how they would handle the emotion of the club’s first major European final since 1976, plus whether they would be able to combat Fiorentina’s refined football by striking the right balance between defence and attack.

In the event West Ham were too quick to fall back. Fiorentina started well in a deafening atmosphere – what a shame that Uefa had underestimated its own competition, deeming a ground with a capacity of 19,370 a worthy venue for a final – and were more assured in possession. Sofyan Amrabat gave them control in midfield, constantly dropping deep to receive the ball, and West Ham soon retreated, the tone set by Rice racing back in the third minute to stop Nicolás González from wriggling in from the right.

The concern would grow as Amrabat, Bonaventura and Rolando Mandragora kept the ball away from Rice and Tomas Soucek,