West Ham surged out of the gates to score a memorable home win over Freiburg and advance into the Europa League quarterfinals with a 5-1 last 16 victory over the Bundesliga veterans at the London Stadium on Thursday.
The blowout win got its exclamation point when Mohammed Kudus went on an electric run through the Freiburg defense to score a goal not unlike Heung-min Son’s incredible solo dribble vs Burnley a few years back. He’d later add another goal.
The Irons trailed 1-0 after the first leg in Germany but leveled the tie after just nine minutes when Lucas Paqueta buried a Tomas Soucek flick of an Aaron Cresswell cross.
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West Ham was in the ascendancy 23 minutes later through Jarrod Bowen, who fired home after Soucek and Michail Antonio helped get a Lukasz Fabianski goal kick to the team’s leading scorer.
Vladimir Coufal’s partially-blocked cross served as the set-up when West Ham put the game away through Cresswell in the 52nd minute, and Mohammed Kudus rounded out the scoring in the 77th and 85th minutes.
West Ham won the Conference League last season to help earn this place in the Europa League, and are three rounds away from a place in the Champions League.
Just as critical for Premier League powers, the win scores points for England in the battle for one of two extra places in the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League.
West Ham next play at 10am ET Sunday when Aston Villa visits the London Stadium in Premier League play.
West Ham 4-0 Freiburg (4-1 agg) video highlights
MOHAMMED KUDUS GOES IT ALONE FOR A SPECTACULAR GOAL 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Zs5VoCBEfn
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 14, 2024
Jarod Bowen ties his record for most goals in a season for West Ham with 18 goals 💥 pic.twitter.com/STOO3pE9MF
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 14, 2024
AARON CRESSWELL SCORES HIS FIRST GOAL OF THE SEASON WITH STYLE 💥
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 14, 2024
His first goal since April 2022 👏 pic.twitter.com/yPwWNJCGYQ
