Show-stopping Kudus adds gloss to frontline

Hammers stroll into the quarter-finals as Moyes’ strikeforce fires

- Dan Kilpatrick

Dan Kilpatrick Chief Football Correspondent at the London Stadium FOR 77 minutes, West Ham were mature and clinical as they cruised towards the Europa League quarterfinals then, Mohammed Kudus stepped up and turned a procession into a spectacle.

Kudus scored two brilliant goals to round off this thrashing of Freiburg making last night the Hammers biggest-ever win in Europe under David Moyes.

It is some achievement for West Ham to have reached the quarter-finals of a European competition three years running, and an enormous credit to Moyes, who is never far from a fresh round of speculation about his future.

It often takes years for a club to crack the continent, whatever the level, but Moyes has built a side who are already an impressive force in Europe.

The Hammers had far too much for Freiburg, who arrived here with a 1-0 lead from last week's first leg in Germany but were quickly overwhelmed.

Lucas Paqueta settled the nerves with the opener in the ninth minute, and the tie was effectively over shortly after half-time when Aaron Cresswell scored the third with a lovely finish.

In between, Jarrod Bowen fired home a fierce low strike, marking his latest England call-up with his first goal in Europe this season and 18th overall.