He West Ham United took revenge for the bitter 1-0 defeat in the first leg against the Freiburg in Germany and overwhelmed the team in the return leg at the London Olympic stadiumto sign their place in the quarterfinals of the Europa League with a 5-0 win which was framed with a double by Mohammed Kudus, who scored a goal in a race from his own field, leaving each rival that came his way.
The Mexican Edson Alvarez He started and once again put in a good performance in the ‘Hammers’ midfield. However, a yellow card at minute 73 after a tackle on Eggesstein will cause Álvarez to miss the first leg of the quarterfinals. Four minutes before the end of the second half, David Moyes, West Ham’s technical director, decided to replace Álvarez with Kalvin Phillips, who arrived at the London team in the last transfer window from Manchester City.
“El Machín” finished with 85% effectiveness in passing (22 successful passes out of 26 attempted), 42 touches, 1 loss of ball, 1 interception, 2 recoveries and participated in 7 defensive actions. In the individual duel category, El ‘Machín’ won six and lost six.
There was no Freiburg in London where, in addition to seeing how West Ham turned the tie around, after the 1-0 victory in the first leg, they received a harsh corrective. After nine minutes they had already seen their advantage equaled, when the Brazilian Lucas Paquetá appeared at the far post free of marker, to convert West Ham’s third consecutive corner kick.
Just a cross shot from Sallai, which caressed the post, was Freiburg’s timid reaction. His initial bravado with high blood pressure collapsed as soon as he took hits. He had forgiven the second Kudus, with everything to score, when Jarrod Bowen’s fight at 32 minutes, winner of a struggle with Gunter, who lacked forcefulness, preceded a left-footed shot from the edge of the area that put everything in the London team’s face.
West Ham had not scored five goals in a European competition match for 44 years. He achieved it in a second half of total superiority. With no capacity for Freiburg to respond, they sank definitively from Cresswell’s left-footed shot against the post in the 52nd minute, making a good rebound.
The final stretch, after Paquetá’s anger at being substituted at game time, left Kudus’ recital. First with a great goal in a solo action in which he started with a cut in his field, he outran the three rivals who came in his way and defined in a right-footed race. Then with a good shot from outside the area. West Ham left Freiburg without reaching the long-awaited quarterfinals as they had never achieved in their history.
*With information from EFE.
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