Europa League: SC Freiburg 1 West Ham Utd 2 – match report

Having famously lifted the UEFA Europa Conference League trophy in Prague in June across 15 games, the Hammers followed up their opening victory over FK TSC Bačka Topola with three points against Christian Streich’s Bundesliga side to top Group A and also overtake Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur to become England’s longest undefeated team in European competition.

On what always looked to be a difficult night, Lucas Paquetá nodded David Moyes’ men into an early lead and, although Roland Sallai levelled just after the break, Nayef Aguerd headed home the winner midway through the second half.

Saturday’s 2-0 victory against basement boys Sheffield United had left the Hammers in seventh spot in the Premier League and, now turning his focus from domestic duties to a third-successive European campaign, Moyes made five changes for what he always considered to be his toughest assignment in Group A.

Not only was the Scot without first-choice senior striker Michail Antonio – cautiously left at home with an adductor muscle strain – but the Scot was also missing the vociferous travelling army of Claret and Blue fans, who were banned by UEFA for attending this first away tie of the 2023/24 campaign, following some misdemeanours in Prague.

In came Mohammed Kudus, Pablo Fornals, Thilo Kehrer, Konstantinos Mavropanos and – skipper for the night – Łukasz Fabiański in place of Antonio plus substitutes Tomáš Souček, Kurt Zouma, Emerson and Alphonse Areola.

Last month’s 3-1 win over Serbian side Bačka Topola at London Stadium meant the Hammers came into this first away-day at the top of Group A, level on points with the so-called Breisgau Brazilians, who had kicked off their own 2023/24 Europa League challenge with a 3-2 victory over Greek outfit, Olympiacos, in Athens.

But it was the proper, genuine article of a West Ham United Brazilian who got the visitors off to a flying start, when Paquetá nodded the visitors ahead on just eight minutes.

Celebrating his long-overdue recall to the England squad, Jarrod Bowen galloped down the right flank and beat Philipp Lienhart before sending a pinpoint cross towards the club’s record-signing, who outjumped Matthias Ginter to plant a powerful 10-yard header beyond Noah Atubolu.

There may not have been any Cockney cheers to celebrate Paquetá’s well-crafted opener but 34,100 onlooking Germans simply fell into shocked silence and, they had barely rediscovered their voices, when the pacy Kudus again caused panic in the Freiburg box just a few minutes later.

The Ghanaian international’s darting dash into the heart of the home defence climaxed with the awkward Atubolu fumbling the ball onto the base of his right-hand upright and, with the Hammers pressing with pace and purpose, Paquetá was then denied a second goal by an offside flag.

The Germans had also won 2-0 at the weekend to go eighth in the Bundesliga and following his side’s victory over FC Augsburg, Streich made just a couple of switches for Matchday Two as Nicolas Höfler and Junior Adamu replaced Yannik Keitel and substitute Ritsu Doan.

Apart from Lucas Höler’s 20-yarder that was comfortably saved by the flying Fabiański, jittery, disjointed Freiburg were looking a shadow of the side that had been eliminated by Juventus at the last-16 stage in last year’s competition.

Running down blind alleys and struggling to string any meaningful passes together, the Germans were on red alert against the potential for the Hammers slick counter-attacking.

And, on 25 minutes, with the visitors having been on the end of some judderingly tough tackles, collective Freiburg frustration was brought to a head by the consequently-cautioned Höfler, who finally stretched the patience of Swedish referee Mohammed Al-Hakim for a crude lunge into Kudus.

As the half wore on, the Germans began to regain some parity in possession and territory but with Mavropanos and Aguerd holding firm in defence, Fabiański was barely troubled and, indeed, James Ward-Prowse might even have given West Ham a two-goal interval lead but Atubolu held his low 15-yarder in stoppage time.

Doan replaced Amadu for the restart that saw no less than eight Freiburg players stationed ready and waiting on the halfway line, a clear sign that they meant business during the second period.

Edson Álvarez was soon booked for scything down Sallai, who quickly dusted himself down before levelling on 48 minutes following a frantic goalmouth scramble.

With Fabiański brilliantly beating out his first shot, Lukas Kübler was also denied by another point-blank Polish stop but unfortunately for the Hammers keeper it proved third time lucky for Freiburg when Sallai strode back onto the loose ball and blasted a rising 10-yarder into the net.

Suddenly, the sold-out stadium was a bubbling cauldron of noise and, having equalised, Sallai almost turned up the decibel level once more but this time, Fabiański held his rasping drive.

Now on the back foot, the Hammers saw the overlapping right-back Kiliann Sildillia send a looping header onto the far post, before Höler then somehow latched onto the loose ball and deposited a rising eight-yard volley into the disbelieving Freiburg fans packed behind Fabiański’s goal.

Certainly, the Hammers were wobbling for the first time but Bowen still gave the hosts due warning of his menace with a low angled shot that Atubolu beat away and, crucially, midway through the half, the newly called-up Three Lion then forced a corner.

Dependable as ever, Ward-Prowse duly delivered the flag-kick into the danger-zone where Aguerd climbed higher than anyone to head the Hammers back into a lead that Moyes was anxious to preserve second time around.

On came Souček and Emerson in place of Kehrer and Fornals, while Streich made a treble switch with the introduction of Merlin Röhl, Noah Weißhaupt and Maximilian Philiipp and, after Kudus fired a low, angled shot across the face of goal he was replaced by Saïd Benrahma.

With the game now entering its final stages, Bowen forced Atubolu to save his low 20-yarder and, when Ward-Prowse arrowed the resulting corner kick towards Mavropanos, the Greek defender’s header was just an inch or two, too high.

Still, there was just enough time for the ambushed Paquetá to somehow wriggle away from a trio of a markers on the touchline before releasing Bowen but whereas that deadly duo had combined to engineer that famous last-minute winner against Fiorentina in the Czech capital, this time the Hammers number 20 could only steer his low shot beyond the helplessly exposed Atubolu and the base of the right-hand post.

In the final reckoning, though, those two telling headers from Paquetá and Aguerd proved enough to leave West Ham United top of Group A ahead of their late October meeting with Olympiacos and, of course, secure that record-breaking 17th match unbeaten in European competition.

SC FREIBURG: Atubolu, Lienhart, Ginter, Sildillia, Höfler, Eggestein, (Röhl 76), Sallai, Kübler (Weißhaupt 76), Amadu (Doan 46), Grifo (Breunig 86), Höler (Philipp 76). Unused subs: Müller, Uphoff, Schmidt, Gulde, Makengo, Rüdlin,

WEST HAM UNITED: Fabiański, Coufal, Kehrer (Emerson 71), Aguerd, Mavropanos, Álvarez, Ward-Prowse (Ings 89), Paquetá (Mubama 89), Fornals (Souček 71), Bowen, Kudus (Benrahma 80). Unused subs: Areola, Anang, Zouma, Cornet, Ogbonna, Coventry.

Booked: Höfler (25).

Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (Sweden).

Attendance: 34,100.