By David Randall and Yoruk Bahceli (Reuters) -Fiscal concerns and worries over a prolonged period of elevated interest rates sent

West Ham face Italian side Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final in Prague on Wednesday night. The Hammers are bidding to win a first major trophy since the FA Cup in 1980. Here, the PA news agency looks back at their route to the final. Qualifying round West Ham’s journey to Prague began on August 18, three Prime Ministers ago, with a home meeting against Danish minnows Viborg. New Italian striker Gianluca Scamacca, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio scored in a 3-1 first-leg win. Scamacca was on target again, along with Said Benrahma and Tomas Soucek, in the away leg to secure a comprehensive 6-1 aggregate victory. Group stage The Hammers were drawn with Romanian side FCSB, Belgium’s Anderlecht and Silkeborg of Denmark in Group B. They fell behind to FCSB at home in their first match but goals from Bowen, Emerson Palmieri and Antonio earned a 3-1 win and David Moyes’ side went on to breeze into the knockout stages with six wins out of six. Last 16 The travelling fans were rewarded with a trip to sunny Cyprus and a tie against AEK Larnaca. West Ham were struggling domestically, having just been knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester United and thumped 4-0 at Brighton in the Premier League, but Antonio’s double settled the away leg and a brace from Bowen helped them to a 4-0 win at home, and 6-0 on aggregate, to keep the European adventure going. Quarter-final Next up were another Belgian outfit, Gent, and for the first time in the competition West Ham failed to register a victory, with Danny Ings on target in a 1-1 away draw. But despite conceding an early goal, the home leg was comfortable thanks to another Antonio double, Lucas Paqueta’s penalty and a stunning solo goal from captain Declan Rice to wrap up a 4-1 win. Semi-final Dutch dark horses AZ Alkmaar would be no pushovers in the last four having already accounted for Lazio and Anderlecht. West Ham fell behind at the London Stadium to Tijani Reijnders’ first-half goal but Said Benrahma’s penalty and Antonio’s scrambled effort secured a 2-1 win. In an edgy second leg, Pablo Fornals raced through to score the only goal in stoppage time to inflict AZ’s first European defeat in 26 matches and send the Hammers through.

Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Tyrone Taylor homered twice and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-2 to take another step toward their second NL Central title in three years

NHL players open their season this week

Iconic pop star Britney Spears has been the subject of numerous online conspiracy theories that continue to fester and proliferate even today

Oil advanced at the week’s open after Saudi Arabia said it will make an extra 1 million barrel-a-day

David Moyes defended his team selection after West Ham’s unbeaten European record was reduced to ruins in Athens. The Hammers came a cropper in the shadow of the Acropolis as they crashed 2-1 at Olympiacos, their first loss in continental competition in 18 matches. Moyes, who led his side to the Europa Conference League title last season, made seven changes for their Europa League Group A clash in the Greek capital with one eye on Sunday’s visit of Everton. But his tinkering backfired as a soft goal from Olympiacos captain Kostas Fortounis and an own goal from stand-in Hammers skipper Angelo Ogbonna brought their undefeated run to a halt despite Lucas Paqueta’s late volley. “Look, we changed a lot of players tonight, we’ve got the Premier League coming up and we’ve got a League Cup game next week and we’d won the first two games in the group, which gave us leeway to make changes tonight,” Moyes told whufc.com. “But maybe I have to recognise that while we didn’t win the Conference League games easily, as they were all tough games, coming to Olympiacos after winning away in Freiburg – which was a good result – this wasn’t a good result and wasn’t a good performance. “In our heads we certainly had a bigger picture in our heads and that was going into Sunday. “I don’t think anybody could say the team we started with wasn’t a good team and wasn’t a team capable of winning or performing. “Many of them have been very good players for us over the years and still are.” The local ‘ultras’ welcomed West Ham on to the pitch with a huge banner reading “tonight you dine in hell”, and the Hammers’ first-half display was certainly hard to stomach. The hosts took the lead in the 34th minute when Fortounis launched an old-fashioned toe poke from the edge of the box which flew past the flat-footed Alphonse Areola in the West Ham goal. On the stroke of half-time the Hammers found themselves two behind when Ogbonna suffered his own personal Greek tragedy. The Italian veteran stuck out a foot to block a cross from Brazilian full-back Rodinei, only to help it past Areola into his own net. Moyes sent on Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio before the hour mark but the Brazilian’s strike, albeit spectacular, was all West Ham had to show for a late flurry. Fortounis admitted his goal was a shade fortuitous. He told reporters: “To be honest, it all seems like a haze. “I turned and ran towards goal, the ball was right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything else. It was literally a strike with the tip of my toe.” Read More West Ham suffer first European loss in 18 matches at hands of Olympiacos Former Everton boss David Moyes pays tribute to ‘wonderful man’ Bill Kenwright David Moyes hopes West Ham and Olympiacos fans behave in Greece Man Utd expect to pay further tribute to Sir Bobby Charlton on Tuesday night We’re after seven teams – Unai Emery plays down Villa’s Champions League chances Such a good man – David Moyes hails Sir Bobby Charlton help as fans pay tribute

'There’s only this little belt, one wire, and a bloke who doesn’t look like he’s paying attention holding me up,' Jeremy Renner remembered

The newest in the ever-growing list of Fall Guys collaborations, Pusheen and Super Pusheenicorn will be arriving in the hit battle royale title

Max Verstappen declared he can carry on winning in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, playing down his five-place grid penalty after...

Generally, it’s best to leave the money in your retirement accounts safely tucked away

Turn a $5 bet into $200 in bonus bets with no sweat when you sign up with FanDuel Sportsbook. Read more to learn how you can claim your bonus offer in minutes.