Mohammed Kudus shines as West Ham run riot vs Freiburg to reach Europa League quarter-finals
West Ham boss David Moyes saw his team race into the Europa League quarter-finals with a 5-0 win over Freiburg. The Hammers' manager named an attacking line-up to overturn the 1-0 first-leg defeat in Germany last week.
The result was a dazzling performance with goals from Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Cresswell and two from Mohammed Kudus, including a stunning solo effort. This secured a 5-1 aggregate win and a place in a European quarter-final for the third season in a row.
The victory also pushed England ahead of Germany in UEFA's coefficient rankings, potentially securing an extra spot in Europe next season for Premier League teams. Despite some inconsistent domestic form, West Ham, who won last season's Europa Conference League, seem to thrive on these European nights.
Two years ago, they famously overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit against Spanish Europa League specialists Sevilla at the same stage of the competition. There were concerns that the electric atmosphere might be hard to replicate due to the unusual 5.45pm kick-off time.
However, the London Stadium was nearly full and erupted after just nine minutes as Freiburg saw their advantage wiped out. Cresswell delivered a third corner in a row, Tomas Soucek cleverly flicked the ball on and Paqueta, who was unmarked, slid it in at the far post.
Just after half an hour, West Ham scored their second goal. Bowen, fresh from his latest England squad call-up, shrugged off Freiburg captain Christian Gunter and smashed the ball home from 20 yards. Freiburg didn't back down though, with Roland Sallai shooting across the goal and wide to remind West Ham that the game was still up for grabs at half-time.
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