A handful of West Ham supporters were spotted fending off a wave of AZ Alkmaar ultras, who appeared to have breached the away section, following full-time at the AFAS Stadion on Thursday night. Pablo Fornals booked the Hammers a place in the Europa Conference League final with a composed strike in the dying embers of the tie.
The 27-year-old midfielder replaced Said Benrahma with a quarter-of-an-hour to go and, in the fourth minute of added time, he secured West Ham their first European final since 1976. David Moyes' side returned to east London with a 3-1 aggregate win following their 1-0 victory in the 1-0 semi-final second leg.
But, before the Hammers stepped on the flight home, ugly scenes broke out in the stadium. In response to the brawl which broke out, the Dutch police have confirmed that no arrests have been made yet, as of 10:00 GMT on Friday, 19 May.
READ MORE: ‘Crying like a kid’ - Pablo Fornals reveals West Ham emotions after winning goal vs AZ Alkmaar
A statement reads: "So far, no arrests have been made. Our aim was to disperse the crowd and restore order as quickly as possible, in which we succeeded. The police will investigate footage of the incidents and try to identify supporters.
"Arrests may follow from this. Together with AZ, the municipality of Alkmaar and the public prosecution service we will evaluate last night’s incidents, which we regret having happened. This kind of behaviour has no place in football."
Speaking to the press after the game, Fornals admitted that he was not caught up in the brawl and, instead, soaked up the atmosphere of a historic evening for West Ham. The Spaniard recalled: "To be honest, I didn’t see a lot because I don’t have anyone here watching me tonight, so I didn’t have any [family] to watch in that area.
"When the referee whistled for the end I just threw myself into the floor and started crying like a kid. I don’t know why but I seem to cry a lot this season! After that I went inside, tried to keep the guys in because we don’t need that as players.
"Obviously, I was really concerned about how the family of my teammates and the West Ham family are. Hopefully, everyone is okay and the police can do their job and realise who did it.
"It’s not great when you are in that beautiful moment and people who aren’t trying to use violence against you. We can’t do anything else but try to help the police to realise who did it and pray for the family of my people being healthy."
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