SC Freiburg 1-2 West Ham: Aguerd goal earns Europa League win and English record

West Ham continued their successful start to life in the Europa League with a record-breaking victory at Freiburg.

Following their first-half dominance, West Ham were rocked when Roland Sallai struck a close-range equaliser shortly after the restart.

However, Nayef Aguerd nodded a James Ward-Prowse corner past Noah Atubolu to secure the win.

The London club clinched an impressive record by becoming the first English side to go 17 consecutive games in European competition without defeat.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City team, Don Revie’s Leeds in the 1960s and Bill Nicholson’s 1970s Tottenham side all managed 16 games unbeaten.

West Ham were particularly threatening on the break in the first half as Bowen and Mohammed Kudus troubled the Freiburg defence.

David Moyes’ men limited Freiburg to just one shot on target before the break – a tame effort that was easily caught by Lukasz Fabianski.

Freiburg were unsettled and struggled to cope with the pressure from West Ham but managed to remain in contention given the visitors’ slim lead.

The game’s momentum shifted when Sallai lashed the equaliser past Fabianski, and Lucas Holer should have put Freiburg in front when he somehow blasted over the bar from six yards.

West Ham were therefore relieved when careless positioning from Atubolu allowed Aguerd to meet Ward-Prowse’s corner and restore the lead, the decisive goal coming against the run of play.

West Ham, who beat Backa Topola in their opening Europa League game, top Group A with six points. Freiburg are second and sit three points behind.

“It wasn’t one of our best performances and it was a tough game for us tonight,” Ward-Prowse told the Uefa website.

“We now have six points from two games and that’s of course a very good start.”

The former Southampton midfielder also spoke of the hosts’ second-half improvement, and how West Ham’s winning goal came via an unfancied route.

He said: “They switched a few things around at half-time, played with a clear number 10 then, which caused us to have to adjust our midfield several times.

“We weren’t briefed on them having problems in the air, quite the contrary, we expected them to be strong in set-pieces, so it was especially nice to score from a corner.”

West Ham overcome lack of cutting edge

It did not take long for the hosts to falter in the face of West Ham’s attacking energy, and the Premier League club should have scored more in the first half.

Freiburg keeper Atubolu spilled an easy cross against the post and Paqueta was denied by the offside flag.

West Ham sit seventh in the English top flight and made a string of changes from the side that beat Sheffield United at the weekend.

They lacked the services of striker Michail Antonio, sidelined by a tight adductor muscle.

Kudus, who netted twice against Backa Topola, impressed on a rare start, linking play going forwards and injecting pace into the visitors’ attacking efforts.

Yet aside from Paqueta’s opener, the visitors mostly suffered from a lack of potency in the final third despite creating chances.

Ward-Prowse could only register a tame shot when played through on goal on the stroke of half-time in one of the visitors’ better opportunities.

It had looked as if the lack of a clinical finish might come back to haunt West Ham, but they adapted to the hosts’ improvements and managed to regain control.

West Ham were better organised after Aguerd’s goal and kept possession well to avoid any chance of a second Freiburg fightback.

Moyes’ side face eighth-placed Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday.

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