PIE AND MASHED
Kudus scores wondergoal in East End rout
BY ALAN SMITH DAVID MOYES’ critics may be feeling sheepish this morning.
This was a dynamite performance from West Ham as they overcame a first-leg deficit of 1-0 to thrash Freiburg and book their place in today’s quarter-final draw.
Moyes has been chastised for his team’s style of play recently as domestic results have dropped off.
But nights like these make it hard to argue against his point that it is a long time since the Hammers have had it this good.
And the 60-year-old Scot toasted a third straight European quarter-final by saying: “From where we’ve come, a team avoiding relegation, it’s a brilliant achievement.
“The club has moved on so much in the last few years. It’s hard to point out how good it’s been – and we want to make it better if we can.”
Mohammed Kudus capped this triumph with a remarkable fourth goal that saw the Ghanaian dribble 70 yards before drilling past hapless Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu – and his mid-range curling strike for the fifth was not bad either.
“Snakehips,” said Moyes. “It was a brilliant individual goal, a Roy-of-theRovers-type goal really.”
But the damage had already been done against their stunned Bundesliga opponents as the Irons made it 11 straight home wins in Europe.
They levelled the tie after nine minutes, as Lucas Paqueta peeled off midfielder Vincenzo Grifo to tap in from four yards.
Freiburg tried to respond quickly as Roland Sallai dragged a low shot a couple of inches wide – but that 10thminute effort would prove their clearest chance of the night.
The Germans enjoyed a larger share of the ball, but there was never much dynamism to their forward play.
And West Ham have routinely shown over the past three seasons that they do not need possession to thrive.
Indeed, Jarrod Bowen’s goal, making it 2-1 on aggregate, was a classic of the Moyes genre, combining directness and power with a little bit of magic.
Bowen, who had earlier learned of another England call-up, shook off Christian Gunter’s rash challenge and found an angle around Matthias Ginter that allowed him to drill into Atubolu’s bottom right corner from 20 yards.
Any fear of the home side becoming complacent with a one-goal advantage vanished when full-back Aaron Cresswell fired in a third on 52 minutes.
And then Kudus’ 77th-minute brilliance, turning theFreiburg defence inside out, had Irons fans – many of whom had left work early to be in time for the 5.45pm kick-off – in raptures.
And he added his second just eight minutes later to complete the rout.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 7; Coufal 6, Mavropanos 6, Zouma 6, Cresswell 7; Soucek 6, Alvarez 6 (Phillips 86); Bowen 8 (Earthy 86), Paqueta 7 (Ward-Prowse 62, 6), Kudus 8 (Ings 86); Antonio 7 (Johnson 79)
FREIBURG (4-4-2): Atubolu 5; Sildillia 6 (Rohl 68, 5), Ginter 5, Gulde 6 (Kubler 62, 5), Gunter 5; Doan 6, Eggestein 6, Hofler 6 (Muslija 62, 5), Grifo 5 (Gregoritsch 46, 5); Holer 5 (Philipp 68), Sallai 5