David Moyes was full of praise for his players and the West Ham United supporters after leading his team to a Club European record 5-0 victory over SC Freiburg that sealed progression to a third successive continental quarter-final.
Trailing narrowly from the first leg in Germany, the Hammers got off to the perfect start when Lucas Paquetá tapped in from close range within nine minutes, and then Jarrod Bowen earned those in Claret and Blue the lead for the first time in the tie with his Club-record tenth European strike.
Aaron Cresswell’s first goal for almost two years settled any nerves within London Stadium not long into the second half, and then Mohammed Kudus stole the show with a brace that made it 5-1 on aggregate, the first goal being particularly easy on the eye.
Having celebrated wildly as the Irons delivered another special European night, Moyes explained how excited he is to be in the latter stages of the Europa League once again, with the draw for the remainder of the competition set to take place at 12noon GMT on Friday.
It’s certainly a memorable night!
We don’t score five too often, but we scored really good goals tonight. Mo [Kudus] scored a couple of brilliant goals, Jarrod [Bowen] as well, and I think getting off to a good early start with the Lucas Paquetá strike settled us down well.
I still never felt that comfortable. Even being 2-0 up at half-time I thought if they got a goal the game was going to be back in the balance, so that third goal really did make the difference. Thankfully Cressy managed to get it for us.
The players who we rely on to get the goals did just that tonight, so I’m really pleased. We need our big players on big nights, and everyone who was out there certainly stood up to the task tonight.
Kudus’ first was a great, great goal.
Fans of a slightly older generation might remember a player called Jimmy Johnstone, who was an unbelievable player for Celtic. Mo reminded me of him when he was snaking through their defence.
It was brilliant, and then he slotted in another to make it five, so I’m really pleased for him. He put in a great performance.
It’s been a great day for Jarrod, but it’s nothing more than he deserves.
It’s great he’s scored, and it’s great he’s getting recognised for England because he’s been unbelievable this season. We put him back on the right-hand side tonight and he’s still popped up with a goal.
All the boys up front did their bit, including Michail Antonio. He’s missed periods of the season but he caused them lots of problems out there, so I’m really happy for him as well.
The fans gave us a really good backing tonight, and it’s great to get the result for them.
We’ve had three brilliant years of European football, and I hope everyone’s enjoyed it as much as we have.
I know everyone enjoyed last season, and we’ll do everything possible to try and get even a taste of something like that again this year.
We know there are no easy games in this competition, and all the teams left in the last eight are going to be really tough to beat. We know we’re going to have to play well to get through, but we’re confident in our ability and we’ll be full of belief.
