David Moyes was thrilled to get West Ham’s Europa League campaign back on track after Lucas Paqueta’s goal secured a 1-0 victory over Olympiacos.
The Brazil midfielder crashed in a second-half volley to keep the Hammers on top of Group A and to the brink of qualifying for the knockout stages.
Moyes’ side are also guaranteed European football after Christmas with the worst-case scenario a third-placed finish meaning a return to the Europa Conference League and a chance to defend the trophy they won last season.
They enjoyed a measure of revenge, too, having accused the Greek team of celebrating their 2-1 win in the reverse fixture two weeks ago as if they had won the Europa League itself.
Not only that, but West Ham have now won their last nine home games in Europe since the start of last season, one more than Manchester City.
“We were disappointed to lose our record of 17 unbeaten two weeks ago against Olympiacos, so it’s good to get back on track,” said Moyes.
“We’re top of the group, we still have two matches to play but at the moment I think this is the hardest group we’ve had, in our third year in it, and it’s proved to be the case. We’ve done the job tonight. It’s a great result for us.
“Europe has been great for this football club, we’ve had some great nights and long may they continue.”
Paqueta, the best player on the pitch, broke the deadlock in the 74th minute after Bowen’s square pass found James Ward-Prowse.
The former Southampton midfielder chipped the ball forward into the area for Paqueta to fire home on the volley.
The goal was initially ruled out by an assistant referee’s flag, but a VAR check showed the Brazilian was onside and referee Matej Jug, who had infuriated West Ham with some strange decisions all evening, got the biggest cheer of the night when he signalled a goal.
“I don’t think VAR needed to come to the rescue, it was onside, it was a goal,” added Moyes.
“We needed it because the game was very tight, there was very little in it.
“He took the goal brilliantly tonight but there were lots of things I wanted him to do better. We’ve got room for improvement.”
It was a fourth assist in four European outings for Ward-Prowse, who was overlooked by England again earlier in the day, more than a year after his last call-up.
Paqueta pointedly went to the 3,000 travelling fans to celebrate, probably because the West Ham players were targeted by laser pens from Greek supporters in Athens.
West Ham survived a late scare when Mady Camara rattled a post but they held on to complete their European revenge mission.
Kaiserslautern 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen: Xhaka stunner seals DFB-Pokal triumph
Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen battled past second-tier Kaiserslautern 1-0 on Saturday to win the DFB-Pokal and secure the club's first domestic double.
Leverkusen missed out on a treble after losing 3-0 to Atalanta in the Europa League final on Wednesday, in what was astonishingly their first defeat of the season in all competitions, after a European record 51-game unbeaten run.
But at Berlin's Olympic stadium, which will host the Euro 2024 final in July, Xabi Alonso's side ensured they capped off a remarkable campaign with another piece of silverware thanks to Granit Xhaka's stunning 16th-minute strike.
The ball rolled out to the former Arsenal man around 25 yards out, and he planted an unstoppable first-time effort into the left-hand side of the net.
They controlled the pace even after they were reduced to 10 men following Odilon Kossounou's second booking a minute before half-time.
Kaiserslautern rarely threatened after the break, with Leverkusen limiting their opponents to just 0.2 expected goals.
And even though they could not add to their lead, Leverkusen were able to comfortably wrap up their second trophy of the best season in the club's history.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen join the club
Leverkusen are only the fifth different side to win the double in Germany since the Bundesliga was founded, after Bayern Munich (13 times), 1. Koln, Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund.
Xhaka's strike was a worthy winner. He became the first Swiss player to score in a DFB-Pokal final.
Barcelona coach Giraldez celebrates 'one of the happiest days' after Women's Champions League triumph
Barcelona coach Jonatan Giraldez celebrated "one of the happiest days" of his life after his side claimed the Women's Champions League title.
Giraldez led Barca to a 2-0 victory over fellow heavyweights Lyon in Bilbao on Saturday.
Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas got the goals in the second half, as Barca beat Lyon for the first time and won the Champions League for a third season out of the last four.
Giraldez will now leave Barca to take charge of Washington Spirit in the NWSL, but was able to leave on the highest note possible, having won a quadruple this term, becoming the first European team since Arsenal in 2007 to manage such a haul in a single campaign.
He told DAZN: "It was an incredible game, I am really happy, one of the best days of my life for sure.
"We did an amazing job with the ball, without the ball. we suffered in the last minutes, but I'm very proud of all of them."
Barcelona defender Lucy Bronze, whose future with the club is uncertain, told DAZN: "We knew that that's what we needed, to be a club to make history.
"It's not easy, it's hard to win it once. To win it back to back, Lyon showed how difficult it is and this team has finally done that. We go down in history as one of the best teams in Europe."
Barca's two Ballon d'Or winners scored their goals, with Bonmati breaking the deadlock just after the hour before Putellas lashed home in stoppage time.
"She's the captain of the team, she's the Queen of Barcelona for a reason," Bronze said of Putellas.
"She's always so confident in the team and showed today why she is a back-to-back Ballon d'Or winner.
"She's got the quality to do that in the last minute of the Champions League final when we were up against it at the end and just sealed the win for us. It was amazing."
Juventus 2-0 Monza: Departing Alex Sandro scores as Bianconeri round off with a win
Juventus completed their Serie A campaign with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Monza thanks to first-half goals from Federico Chiesa and Alex Sandro.
Juve ended their season on 71 points, third in the standings, though they can still be overtaken by Europa League champions Atalanta, who sit fifth and have two matches left to play.
Chiesa broke the deadlock after 26 minutes on Saturday and long-serving left-back Sandro, playing in his final game for the Bianconeri before departing as a free agent, doubled the lead two minutes later with a header from a corner.
Juve came close to scoring a third early in the second half, but Chiesa's attempt from the edge of the box hit the woodwork.
Thiago Motta is expected to take charge of Juve in the coming days, after his departure from Bologna was confirmed.
Monza ended the campaign in 12th place with 45 points.
Data Debrief: How's your luck?
Chiesa's effort against the frame of the goal means that, since the beginning of the last season, only Inter (36) hit the woodwork more times than Juve (35) in Serie A.
Juve will be hoping to be that bit more clinical next term as they aim to challenge for the title under Motta.
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