Europa League roundup: West Ham prove too much for Freiburg in five-star European display
After falling to a narrow defeat in the first leg, a highly motivated West Ham side produced a purposeful start in their fourth meeting with Freiburg this season.
Lucas Paquetá required just nine minutes to poke the ball home from Tomáš Souček’s near-post flick-on following a corner kick.
Roland Sallai was then presented with a chance to restore Freiburg’s advantage immediately, but the Hungary international could only drag his effort harmlessly wide of Łukasz Fabiański’s goal.
Despite that brief moment of promise from the visitors, West Ham continued to carry the greater threat, with Mohammed Kudus guiding the ball wide after being teed up by Michail Antonio.
West Ham’s second duly arrived in the 32nd minute when Jarrod Bowen produced a driven strike from the edge of the box to find the bottom corner and turn the tie firmly in the home side’s favour.
Following a disappointing first period, Freiburg boss Christian Streich turned to his bench at the break, introducing last week’s match-winner Michael Gregoritsch. However, before the forward could have any real impact, Aaron Cresswell found the net to increase the difficulty of the visitors’ uphill task.
The full-back collected a loose ball, before whipping it into the bottom corner to register his first-ever European goal.
Any doubt left hanging over West Ham’s progress was ultimately quashed by a piece of individual brilliance from Kudus.
After collecting possession in his own half, the Ghana international drove away from two defenders, before chopping the ball past Lukas Kübler to slot a right-foot shot beyond Noah Atubolu.
Kudus grabbed his second just moments later, fizzing a low strike into the corner to round off a memorable European night for David Moyes’s side. While the visitors are left to reflect on a second straight last-16 exit, the Hammers will look forward to Friday’s quarter-final draw.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Mohammed Kudus (West Ham United)
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Other results from 18:45 CET kickoffs:
Click on the match link to read the full report from the last 16 ties.