West Ham United have reached the Europa League quarter-finals after defeating Freiburg 5-0 in their last-16 second leg tie.
Goals from Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Cresswell, and a brace from Mohammed Kudus secured an emphatic victory for David Moyes’ side.
The draw for the quarter-finals will take place on Friday, March 15 at 12pm GMT/8am ET/5am PT.
Moyes said on the victory: “For us to be in another quarter-final is a brilliant achievement. From where we’ve come from, a team that was avoiding relegation to actually make Europe, to then do it a second year and win a trophy.
“The club has moved on so much in the last three years. It’s hard to point out how good it’s been because for a long time it’s not been not in the strongest position and we want to try and make it better if we can.
“If you look at that journey, and I know European football is probably the focus tonight, it’s an awful lot of good things that have happened in the last few years at West Ham.”
The London side took the lead in the 9th minute after Paqueta latched onto a cross and finished at the back post.
Jarrod Bowen, who was named in Gareth Southgate’s England squad earlier today, made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute, cutting in from the right wing and hitting a fine effort with his left foot.
Aaron Cresswell made it three in the 52nd minute with his first goal in European football, side-footing a left-footed shot in off the post.
Kudus stole the show and sealed the victory with arguably the goals of the night. The 23-year-old made it 4-0 in the 77th minute after receiving the ball in his own half, dribbling the length of the pitch weaving in and out of defenders, and finishing with his right foot.
The Ghana international finished the scoring in the 85th minute after receiving a pass from Bowen and hitting a left-footed shot past Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu.
The victory is also hugely significant in terms of the European coefficient table which could see the Premier League earn an extra place in next season’s Champions League.
Two leagues will get an extra place in the competition based on performances in Europe this season, which are measured by the coefficient rankings.
To ensure they receive an extra spot, Germany needs to hold off England in the coefficient table, so West Ham beating eliminating Bundesliga side Freiburg has even more importance. That is further explained here.
Liverpool ensured their progression to the quarter-finals with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Sparta Prague but Brighton & Hove Albion were knocked out of the competition despite a 1-0 victory over Roma.
Aston Villa secured their progression to the Europa Conference League quarter-finals with a 4-0 victory over Ajax at Villa Park.
Europa League last eight in full
(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
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