West Ham fans were involved in a verbal altercation with family members of AZ Alkmaar staff and players during last night’s Europa Conference League meeting at the London Stadium.
Goals from Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio saw the Hammers come from behind to earn a 2-1 first-leg lead ahead of next week’s return fixture, with David Moyes’s side just 90 minutes away from a first major European final in 47 years.
The comeback came after Tijjani Reijnders’ opening goal had given the Eredivisie outfit a first-half lead, with that goal prompting the confrontation after home fans reacted angrily to the celebrations of a small Dutch contingent seated in the home end.
Stewards intervened to diffuse the situation, with the Alkmaar entourage relocated to another part of the ground.
It is understood that the group of staff and players’ relatives had been allocated corporate seats within the home section, rather than tickets in the away end, with similar arrangements common in Uefa fixtures and set to be used for West Ham families during next week’s away leg in the Netherlands.
Alkmaar boss Pascal Jansen confirmed post-match that his family had been caught up in the confrontation, but played down the incident.
“They sat just somewhere above ourselves, somewhere above there, I don’t know exactly where,” he said. “Don’t make a fuss of it. It happened. They weren’t happy, what happened. They were taken care of, and then we get on with the game.”
