West Ham is in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League! Today, David Moyes’s players definitely dominated, completely outclassing the visitors! This is the final end of Freiburg’s dreams of continuing to play in Europe, as well as the continuation of their European journeys. Młotów. We should definitely mention Kudus, Paquete and even Antonio, who, along with their high form, were the strength of the team during the match! Enjoy a minute-by-minute description of the game in this intense duel.
The biggest doubt related to the playing eleven designated by David Moyes was the performance of Michail Antonio – the Jamaican has made a good change recently, but we can consider whether Danny Ings would be a better choice. Another option would be to traditionally move Bowen to 9 and introduce James Ward-Prowse. Moreover, the still injured Emerson was replaced by Aaron Cresswell. Łukasz Fabiański was between the posts, traditionally for cups.
The match started with an intense fight for the ball in the middle of the pitch. They pressed Antonio and Soucek quite well, but in the first minutes it was the visitors who had the ball more often. The first corner kick was taken by Jarrod Bowen at 5′ of the match. The England representative decided to play on the ground and, receiving the return ball, moved into the penalty area. However, the finishing shot turned out to be not particularly dangerous.
Around the 8′ mark, we recorded three more corner kicks, this time taken by Aaron Cresswell from the left side of the field. The first two were knocked out by the defenders from behind the end line, the third one was fantastically used by Lucas Paquete! The key was Soucek’s early sacrificial extension, which does not detract from the Brazilian’s great instincts, as he added his foot to the ball at the far post! West Ham equalized on aggregate!
The next minutes were a series of unspecific exchanges of blows by both sides, usually ending with missed shots. Unfortunately, in the 19th minute Mo Kudus wasted a great, 100% chance! Antonio dribbled through several opponents, recording a fantastic rally and playing to the Ghanaian who had some space. He did not take an inaccurate shot and as a result the football flew far from the left post.
West Ham’s entries from the side sectors looked unusual in this match, because just a few minutes later we had another chance in the opponents’ penalty area. If only Coufal’s pass had found the recipient, we probably would have had another goal. Still, chasing another hit was quite a spectacle.
In the 33rd minute, Jarrod Bowen scored his first goal in the Europa League this season! He did it basically single-handedly, he perfectly defeated the defender who couldn’t stop him and fired a strong, technical shot from 16 meters! The ball flew towards the goal, eventually landing near the right post. West Ham took the lead in the aggregate, which fully reflects the course of the match so far.
In the 38th minute, the opponents’ most dangerous chance (so far) took place. However, Fabiański’s precise attempt to deceive ended with a ricochet and a good intervention by the Polish goalkeeper! Shortly afterwards, the former Polish representative caught Grifo’s attempt, which was flying straight at him, but it was quite an unexpected move.
A minute was added to the regular time – nothing major happened, West Ham deservedly leads over Freiburg after the first part of the match!
David Moyes’s team left for the second half without any personnel changes. The situation is different with the visiting team, who made a very offensive change – introducing Gregoritsch, Freiburg’s ace in the hole.
Despite all this, West Ham remained the better team! Aaron Cresswell got on the scoresheet, taking advantage of the confusion and plenty of space. The complete disorganization of the German guests was brutally exploited thanks to a clever, technical shot by an experienced defender from the left side of the sixteen.
Interestingly, Aaron’s last goal was April 2022 – what a story!
In the 62nd minute, a change was made – Lucas Paqueta left the field in frustration, and James Ward-Prowse took his place. The Brazilian was quite surprised to have to leave, but he humbly left the field. Time will tell if this was the right decision for David Moyes.
Further actions included a foul that resulted in a yellow card for Cresswell, a temporary injury for Jarrod Bowen and the Freiburg coach using all the substitutions to 68′.
In the 77th minute, Mohammed Kudus took the ball and drove away from his opponents like Usain Bolt, he dribbled with the ball from halfway across the pitch, passed several opponents and finished the whole thing amazingly from the sixteen-yard line – we recommend watching the replay, because words cannot fully describe the genius of this rally!
This couldn’t be released anymore, we had to be in the quarter-finals! Immediately later, Ben Johnson appeared on the pitch, replacing Michail Antonio.
To put the final nail in the coffin, Mo Kudus made it 5-0 in the 85th minute! Another fantastic finish from the Ghanaian that is a must-see. Immediately afterwards, he left the London Stadium pitch to thunderous applause! He was replaced by Calvin Philips.
Shortly later, due to the decisive, unclaimed lead in the two-legged match, Jarrod Bowen also left the pitch and was replaced by 19-year-old George Earthy. The meeting is over,
WEST HAM EUROPE LEAGUE QUARTER-FINALISTS!
West Ham United 5 – 0 Freiburg SC
Paquetá 9′, Bowen 32′, Cresswell 52′, Kudus 77′, 85′
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′)
Unused substitutes: Areola (BR), Knightbridge (BR), Casey, Ogbonna, Aguerd, Orford, Mubama
SC Freiburg: Atubolu, Sildillia (Röhl 68′), Ginter, Gulde (Kübler 62′), Günter ©, Höfler (Muslija 62′), Dōan, Eggestein, Höler (Philipp 68′), Grifo (Gregoritsch 46′), Sallai
Unused substitutes: Müller (BR), Uphoff (BR), Szalai, Lienhart, Keitel, Adamu, Makengo
Judge: Marco Guida (ITA)
Frequency: 51,014