West Ham United 5-0 SC Freiburg (Agg 5-1)
UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg, London Stadium, Thursday 14 March 2024, 5.45pm GMT
West Ham United will contest a continental quarter-final for the third successive season after a European-record 5-0 victory over SC Freiburg in the second leg of the teams’ UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie emphatically overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit.
Trailing narrowly after the first running of the contest in Germany last week, the Hammers made the perfect start when Lucas Paquetá poked home at the back post short of the ten-minute mark, before Jarrod Bowen celebrated his recent England call-up by making it two with his 18th of the season.
Bundesliga outfit Freiburg offered little of note in attack and Aaron Cresswell steepened their task with his first strike for just under two years shortly after half-time, while Mohammed Kudus added gloss to the scoreline with a stunning quick-fire double in the late stages.
The result keeps West Ham’s name in the hat ahead of the Europa League last eight draw at 12noon GMT on Friday, as they continue their hunt to build on last season’s UEFA Europa Conference League triumph.
Boss David Moyes made four changes to the XI that started the 2-2 Premier League draw against Burnley last time out, with Łukasz Fabiański, Kurt Zouma, Edson Álvarez and Michail Antonio coming in for Alphonse Areola, Nayef Aguerd, Kalvin Phillips and James Ward-Prowse.
With the crowd bouncing, the hosts enjoyed the game’s first whiff of a chance in the fourth minute when a long Vladimír Coufal throw caused Noah Atubolu to concede a corner under pressure from Bowen and Tomáš Souček.
Bowen then shot high and wide from a tight angle following the subsequent set-piece, before a succession of corners eventually saw Paquetá latch onto a Souček flick-on and tap in at the back post for 1-0.
Freiburg served an instant reminder of their threat, when Roland Sallai was teed up in the box and shot narrowly wide, but it was Kudus who should have scored next, the Ghana international skewing his low attempt wide after Antonio had beaten Manuel Gulde down the right.
Kudus, who had been a livewire from the start, popped up with a vital tackle to quell a Ritsu Dōan chance close to the half-hour mark, and then back at the other end Bowen shrugged off a Christian Günter challenge and fired in the Hammers’ second from 18 yards, putting his team ahead in the tie for the first time.
The visitors again looked for a quick response, though tame Maximilian Eggestein and Vincenzo Grifo efforts were comfortably held by Fabiański little over five minutes ahead of the break, and West Ham were duly able to see out one minute of added time untroubled.
In need of a goal, Freiburg turned to hero of the first leg Michael Gregoritsch at the start of the second 45, and he was involved almost straight away, heading high over the bar within three minutes of the restart.
It was the Irons who were to strike again however in the 52nd minute, when a Bowen cross-field pass came off a Freiburg heel and fell to Cresswell, who took a touch before lashing a fierce strike into the bottom corner to make the scoreline somewhat more comfortable.
Coufal, still looking for his first goal in Claret and Blue, chose to square towards Bowen instead of shooting in the 73rd minute, though a white away shirt just about managed to get in the way and clear.
The Breisgau Brazilians could do nothing to stop a marauding Kudus run moments later, the home No14 picking up the ball in his own half, brushing off three defenders and slotting past Atubolu to put the result beyond doubt.
Kudus doubled his tally with a smart, edge-of the box finish five minutes before the end, and such a commanding lead allowed Moyes to hand young midfielder George Earthy his senior debut before play resumed.
Coufal again went close to a maiden strike for West Ham in the dying embers of the contest, but there was to be no further change to the scoreline, and the end of two minutes added on was met with a loud chorus of cheers from the home faithful.
West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal, Zouma ©, Mavropanos, Cresswell, Álvarez (Phillips 86), Souček, Paquetá (Ward-Prowse 62), Kudus (Ings 86), Bowen (Earthy 86), Antonio (Johnson 79)
Subs not used: Areola (GK), Knightbridge (GK), Casey, Ogbonna, Aguerd, Orford, Mubama
Goals: Paquetá 9, Bowen 32, Cresswell 52, Kudus 77, 85
Booked: Cresswell, Álvarez
SC Freiburg: Atubolu, Sildillia (Röhl 68), Ginter, Gulde (Kübler 62), Günter ©, Höfler (Muslija 62), Dōan, Eggestein, Höler (Philipp 68), Grifo (Gregoritsch 46), Sallai
Subs not used: Müller (GK), Uphoff (GK), Szalai, Lienhart, Keitel, Adamu, Makengo
Referee: Marco Guida (ITA)
Attendance: 51,014
