Pablo Fornals and his West Ham United team were not about to let the chance of another year of European football pass them by.
The Hammers headed to Viborg on Thursday already 3-1 up in our UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round tie, and a 3-0 victory in Denmark meant it was a case of job done.
Gianluca Scamacca scored his second goal of the tie to put the visitors firmly in command, before second half strikes from Saïd Benrahma and Tomáš Souček wrapped up victory.
As Fornals explained at full-time, ensuring their presence in the group stage of the competition was essential for his side, and now they can dream about making their mark on the continent again following last season’s run to the Europa League semi-finals.
“It’s massive for us to be in the group stage,” the No8 explained. “We’re fighting every year to get European football for our people and we couldn’t miss this opportunity.”
The Hammers had to deal with a boisterous atmosphere at the Energi Viborg Arena, as a near-capacity 8,435 crowd backed their side to the hilt.
While the hosts had their moments – and Alphonse Areola had to make a fine double save to deny Jay-Roy Grot and Justin Lonwijk – the Hammers were efficient in their work and ran out comfortablr winners in the end.
“We knew that coming here the atmosphere would be tough, and it wasn’t easy to come here and play against a crowd that probably knew [it was hard] to qualify, but were still here to support their team with everything. It wasn’t easy,” Fornals continued.
“Viborg were a very good team too. They had really good players with qualities. The throw-ins from the left were difficult to defend and they had a big forward too.
“They are a good team, so I wish them all the best in their league.”
