This season, West Ham and Freiburg are the Europa League version of Manchester City and Leipzig. The England champion has met Leipzig in the Champions League numerous times (two times in 2021/22 and two times in 2022/23) and in the second UEFA competition, the Hammers and Breisgau Brazilians have met four times so far. The two teams played each other in the group stages with the Hammers winning both matches, home and away. But then Freiburg pulled one back, by winning 1-0 in the last 16 first leg last week. But, the Hammers didn’t allow any surprises in the return game, as the current Conference League champions want more trophies and recorded an easy victory in London: West Ham – Freiburg 5-0.David Moyes’ team played good, aggressive and scored on time to secure a 5-1 win on aggregate and advance to the next round against anemic German team. And the home team had one important player who couldn’t be stopped – Mohammed Kudus. The Ghana winger played a fantastic match, scored two fanstastic goals and was unstoppable. Hammers made four changes from the team that drew 2-2 with Burnley at the weekend. Kalvin Phillips was benched, with Edson Alvarez starting in his place. James Ward-Prowse also remained on the bench and Michail Antonio finally took over his striking position, leaving Bowen to play on the wing. The home team had a really good chance already in the 4th minute, and Brazilian Paqueta used the second chance of the game five minutes later with a tap to an empty net for an early lead. Just a minute later Freiburg had their only chance of the half, when the scorer from the first game Sallai slipped behind the Hammers backline. He had just Fabianski to beat but rolled the ball wide of the far post.Just a half an hour into the match it was already 2-0. Again it was in-form Jarod Bowen, who took the ball down around 40 yards and drove it at the Freiburg goal and unleashed an unstoppable drive into the bottom corner. The third goal came in the 52nd minute when Cresswell was on target before Mohammed Kudus scored the goal of the season so far. He picked the ball up in his own half and just continued to run. He beat one player, then the second and third and went into the box for simple finish. But he was not done yet and added another great one five minutes from time for the final 5-0.UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE – ROUND OF 16Second legThursday Slavia Praha – AC Milan 1-3 (0-2)/Jurasek 85 – Pulisic 34, Loftus-Cheek 36, Leao 45+6/AC Milan win 7-3 on aggregateVillareal – Olympique Marseille 3-1 (1-0)/Capoue 32, Sorloth 54, Mosquera 88 – Clauss 90+4/Marseille win 5-3 on aggregateRangers – Benfica 0-1 (0-0)/Rafa SIlva 66/Benfica win 3-2 on aggregateWest Ham – Freiburg 5-0 (2-0)/Paqueta 9, Bowen 32, Creswell 52, Kudus 77, 85/West Ham win 5-1 on aggregate23.00: (1.20) Leverkusen (7.25) Qarabag (12.0)23.00: (1.30) Liverpool (5.90) Sparta Praha (9.00)23.00: (1.80) Brighton (3.60) Roma (4.60)23.00: (2.00) Atalanta (3.50) Sporting (3.70)***odds are subject to change***
