Our Brilliant Brazilian
On what was his 50th appearance for West Ham United, Lucas Paquetá showed every aspect of a near-perfect performance.
Not only did the No10 mark his half-century in Claret and Blue with a tremendous leap and towering header, putting the Irons ahead on eight minutes, but the 26-year-old was literally all over the pitch in a bid to ensure three points went with him and his teammates back to east London.
Paquetá followed up his finish with five key passes throughout his 89 minutes, while his 77 touches was the second-most by any Hammer throughout the game, showing just how important he is to the way the side plays.
With three dribbles also completed, the midfielder put in a tremendous shift throughout the fixture.
His goal was his seventh since joining the Irons from Lyon last summer, and his 15th goal contribution in all competitions in his 50 outings.
A mesmerising performance from Paquetá on his 50th Club appearance 🪄 pic.twitter.com/woPHZfFcKa
— West Ham United (@WestHam) October 5, 2023
Ward-Prowse precision (again)
James Ward-Prowse has only been a West Ham player for about two months but the midfielder must already be a little tired of how much praise he is getting for his set-piece ability.
To be fair to the No7, he certainly deserves every plaudit he is getting for his incredible start to life in east London, with his showing in Freiburg another clear example of what a clever signing he was from Southampton.
With his corner, which was turned in for West Ham’s second by Nayef Aguerd, Ward-Prowse is now up to eight goal contributions in eight games for the Irons. It works out as two goals, both scored in the Premier League, and six assists; a truly remarkable return for the 28-year-old.
With an 83.3 per cent pass accuracy, 53 touches of the ball, three clearances and two interceptions, Thursday was yet another game to add to Ward-Prowse’s already lengthy list of influential outings for West Ham.
Bouncebackability
There is little doubt that the Irons were the better team throughout the first half, registering four shots to Freiburg’s solitary effort, but were unable to make the chances count.
With the Irons seeing a Mohammed Kudus shot strike the post, and a second Paquetá effort ruled out for offside in the first 45 minutes, Freiburg knew they needed a big response. For the first half of the second period, the German side stepped up and did exactly that.
Roland Sallai’s equaliser four minutes into the half came down to sheer determination from the hosts, but Freiburg then pushed on and, if not for some dogged West Ham defending, could have taken the lead.
It is full credit to David Moyes’ side then that they not only dug in to avoid conceding again but found a winning finish. As mentioned above, Aguerd turned in his header to put the Hammers in front for a second time, on 66 minutes, and the visitors held firm to claim the win.
Record breakers
We cannot write a ‘thing we loved’ without talking about our record-breaking West Ham United side!
The longest unbeaten run by an English side in European history.
— West Ham United (@WestHam) October 5, 2023
Massive ⚒️ pic.twitter.com/N7DdKJ8hWP
Victory in Freiburg not only means three more points on the board in Group A – which is a fantastic achievement in itself – but avoiding defeat means the Irons are now 17 games unbeaten in European competitions.
That is a new record for an English team, beating the 16 previously set by Don Revie’s Leeds in 1968 and Bill Nicholson’s Tottenham Hotspur in 1972.
Given our last European loss was in the UEFA Europa League semi-final away to Eintracht Frankfurt around 18 months ago, it is particularly poignant that the Hammers cracked the record in Germany.
