Sport
West Ham; Anticipate The Next Move To Recover From Their Lost
West Ham United won again in the Europa League, but their celebration was met with empty seats since their fans were barred from the stadium because of their disruption during the Europa Conference League final in June.
With the historic victory, the Hammers became the first English team to play 17 consecutive European games without suffering a loss. With two victories out of two in the group stage, David Moyes’ team is now leading and already in strong position to advance to the knockout stage.
Lucas Paqueta opened the scoring after meeting Jarrod Bowen’s delightful cross, and while the Bundesliga side restored parity shortly after the break, Nayef Aguerd headed home a curling James Ward-Prowse corner to seal a third successive win across all competitions.
How did Lucas Paqueta perform vs Freiburg?
It will be most pleasing for Moyes that his side are juggling football across multiple fronts with confidence at present; West Ham suffered successive Premier League defeats last month but those came against Manchester City and Liverpool, since winning 2-0 against Sheffield United at the London Stadium.
And at the centre of all that flows is Paqueta, who was duly rewarded for another fine display with his role as the conduit in midfield, making a whopping five key passes to complement his opening strike.
Since joining from French club Lyon for a club-record £51 million last summer, the Brazilian maestro has been brilliant, tallying seven goals and eight assists in 50 games.
Although Paqueta only completed 69% of his passes at the Stade Europa-Park, this has more to do with his inventiveness and enterprising temperament on the move, constantly looking for opportunities.
Indeed, another stellar showing, but it was his teammate and the orchestrator of his goal, Bowen, who was “brilliant again”, according to The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas.
How good was Jarrod Bowen vs Freiburg?
Bowen’s cross for Paqueta’s opener takes his seasonal tally up to five goals and two assists from eight outings, and he has rightfully been heralded for his “unbelievable” seasonal exploits by the likes of talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan.
In Germany, as per netsport, he served as the centre-forward and complimented his goal with a key pass, 41 touches and success with four of his five dribble attempts, also winning six duels and taking four shots.
The explosive forward, who had earlier in the day been called up by England, demonstrated his value as one of the most dangerous and versatile players in his position.
The £60k per week star is undoubtedly crucial during all of the different phases of the Irons’ play because metrics place him among the top 7% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for interceptions, the top 9% for aerial wins, and the top 19% for clearances per 90, according to FBref.
He is very much the center of West Ham’s attack and showed off his incredible skills once again last night. With more performances like the one against Freiburg, this blossoming jewel will only continue to bloom.
