Late VAR drama leaves a bitter taste for Moyes
OF the 34 European games David Moyes has taken charge of at West Ham, this will perhaps go down as one of the most forgettable.
His team looked to be heading for a useful goalless draw in Germany, but were undone by an 81st minute strike from Michael Gregoritsch to leave their European status hanging by a thread.
Moyes and his players, though, were left furious when they were denied a penalty at the death. Noah Weisshaupt’s hand looked to be in an unnatural position when he blocked Kalvin Phillips’ strike. Referee Alejandro Hernandez was sent to the monitor by VAR but decided not to award a penalty, much to West Ham’s fury.
Back-to-back wins in the Premier League had lifted the pressure on Moyes after eight games without a win.
His record in Europe — just one defeat in his last 21 games prior to last night — is why he has kept a significant amount of credit in the bank. But that will quickly be lost if his side are unable to turn this around next week. The importance of the home leg will not be lost on him.
Freiburg are familiar opposition for West Ham, with the teams having already played each other in the group stage.
The Hammers won both fixtures and progressed as group winners, while Freiburg came through a dramatic play-off with French side Lens, winning the second leg 3-2 after extra-time, despite being 2-0 down at half-time.
While there was a sense of familiarity for Moyes and his players, this was new territory for the 2,230 West Ham fans who braved travel chaos caused by train and airport strikes.
They had been unable to attend the first trip in October due to a ban imposed by UEFA after disruption at the Europa Conference League final in May.
While both sets of fans played their part in creating a vigorous atmosphere, there was little on the pitch for them to get excited about in the first 45 minutes.
The first impressive piece of build-up play came from the hosts as Roland Sallai teed up Lucas Holer, but the forward could only fire straight at Lukasz Fabianski, despite a clear sight of goal.
West Ham’s best chance of the half came when Mohammed Kudus picked out Jarrod Bowen at the back-post, but his scuffed volley bounced wide.
It is no coincidence West Ham’s recent return to form coincided with Lucas Paqueta’s return from injury. The Brazilian had been key in the last game here, scoring the first goal in a 2-1 win which led his manager to call him a ‘maverick’ with ‘incredible talent’.
Freiburg seemed to have done their homework though. Every time the ball was played into Paqueta’s feet, two players immediately surrounded him. There were some robust challenges thrown in too, which prompted the playmaker to ask the referee for more protection. The official seemed less than interested.
The Brazilian should have opened the scoring shortly after half-time when his skewed shot deflected wide. Konstantinos Mavropanos nearly did from the resulting corner, but his header struck the outside of the post and bounced wide.
Paqueta’s frustrations only grew when he was booked for a rash tackle before he headed a Kudus cross over. Bowen was the next to go close for West Ham as he cut in from the right to fire a shot towards the bottom corner, forcing goalkeeper Noah Atubolu into his first real save of note.
James Ward-Prowse then had a clear sight of goal, but his effort could only force a more routine stop for Atubolu.
Then came the sucker punch. Edson Alvarez was caught in possession in his own half and Roland Sallai broke forward. His cross found Gregoritsch unmarked and he stroked it past Fabianski.
Then came the spot-kick row with Phillips, Weisshaupt and the rare sight of a referee giving no penalty, despite being sent to his monitor.
West Ham have it all to do and Moyes will have to call on all his experience if his team are to keep their European tour alive.