Thursday night’s UEFA Europa League Group A fixture against SC Freiburg was the 79th time that Mohammed Kudus and Edson Álvarez had stepped out on to the pitch together.
And every moment of that shared experience told as the Mexican lofted a sumptuous ball through for Kudus to dart on to and fire West Ham United into a 1-0 lead early on.
Álvarez himself got on the scoresheet later in the first half as the Irons registered an impressively comfortable 2-0 win over the German Bundesliga outfit.
The three points gained secured top spot and direct passage to the competition’s last 16 and Kudus – whose goal was his seventh of the campaign already – was full of praise for his former Ajax and current Hammers teammate.
“Edi got the ball and there was space in the middle,” the No14 recalled. “I ran from deep and it was a lovely assist from Edi.
“I was one-v-one with the keeper and just put it in. In the early stages of the game, the first goal is very important. It gave the team energy and momentum so it was good to get the first goal and good to get a second goal in the first half also.”
Kudus was thrilled with the performance as a whole, as his team bounced back from their defeat to Fulham at the weekend in style.
Now he wants to take the momentum gained from another memorable Thursday night under the London Stadium lights into Sunday’s clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
“I’m very happy,” he stated, “We knew there was a lot at stake. We wanted to finish top of the group and we did, so I’m very happy.
“Everyone was on top of their game and gave their best and you can see that in the result.
“It always feels good to score as an attacking player. That’s what we are here to do, put the ball in the net, so I’m happy to score on Thursday and now we focus on the next game.
“I believe in myself and I believe in everyone in the team. We are very confident but we’ll take it one game at a time. We wait to see who we will play in the round of 16 and we’ll take it from there, but I’m very confident against whoever we meet.”
