On 5 October, one of the matches of the Europa League in football took place. Freiburg (Germany) and West Ham (London) met.
Europa League
Freiburg (Germany) - West Ham (London) - 1:2 (0:1)
Goals: Roland Sallai (49) - Paqueta (8), N. Agerd (66)
Warnings: Nicholas Höfler (25), E. Alvarez (48)
In a thrilling UEFA Europa League encounter, Freiburg faced West Ham at the Europa-Park Stadion. Both teams were keen to pick up a win and go further in the tournament. At half-time the score was 0-1 in West Ham's favour, but Freiburg managed to fight back in the second half to finish the match 1-2. "West Ham started the match explosively when L. Paquette scored a stunning goal in the 8th minute. It was a brilliant effort that allowed the team to take the lead and revitalise the game.
Freiburg tried to respond but ran into resistance from a staunch West Ham defence. The 25th minute of the first half was marked by a yellow card for Freiburg's N. Hofler. It was a hot encounter between the teams, tension on the pitch was high. When the teams went to the locker rooms for the break, West Ham had a 1 goal advantage. The second half started with the substitution of a Freiburg player - on 46 minutes M. Ginter replaced R. Doan. The substitution seemed to have a positive effect on Freiburg's game and they started to strive for victory. In the 48th minute, West Ham's E. Alvarez received a yellow card for rough play. The turning point came for Freiburg in the 49th minute when R. Sallai scored the decisive goal, levelling the score. The home crowd were delighted as their team fought back and put West Ham under intense pressure. However, in the 66th minute, West Ham's N. Aguerd returned the lead to his team with a successful strike. Both teams made a number of substitutions to freshen up their squads. In the 71st minute, West Ham introduced P. Fornals and T. Soucek into the game. These substitutions seemed to bring stability to the midfield. Freiburg responded in the 76th minute with three substitutions: L. Kubler, M. Eggestein and L. Holer. In the 80th minute, West Ham introduced M. Kudus into the game, hoping to increase their lead. Freiburg also showed their determination by making two more substitutions in the 86th minute: V. Grifo and M. Breunig came on the pitch. In a bid to consolidate the victory, both teams made another substitution in the 90th minute: Freiburg replaced L. Holler with J. Ward-Prowse and West Ham with D. Ings. Despite the intense struggle in the second half, the score remained unchanged until the final whistle. West Ham defeated Freiburg 2-1. It was a hard-fought match in which both teams gave their best on the pitch. The result demonstrated the competitiveness of the Europa League and the unwavering spirit of these two football giants.
In the next round the following matches await the rivals: Bacca Topola vs Freiburg, Olympiacos vs West Ham.
| Freiburg | West Ham | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Kicks to the goal | 5 |
| 9 | Kicks | 11 |
| 1 | Blocked shots | 2 |
| 6 | Penalty kicks | 10 |
| 3 | Kicks from outside the penalty box | 1 |
| 8 | Offences | 6 |
| 2 | Corner | 4 |
| 0 | Offsides | 2 |
| 56% | Ball possession | 44% |
| 1 | Yellow cards | 1 |
| 0 | Red cards | 0 |
| 3 | Keeper saves | 4 |
| 549 | Total assists | 439 |
| 457 | Accurate assists | 345 |
| 83% | Accuracy of passes | 79% |