There were plenty of positives which West Ham United manager David Moyes found from the win over SC Freiburg. Topping the group was one of them.
Follow Us
West Ham United ended their Europa League group campaign with a 2-0 win over SC Freiburg. That victory helped them seal the top spot in the group, which is something that would have pleased a lot of their supporters. It is important to finish in the first spot, as this would send them directly to the round-of-16 stage in March. Otherwise, they would have had to play knockout round play-off games against clubs dropping down from the Champions League in February.
There were plenty of positives that West Ham United manager David Moyes found from the win over SC Freiburg. Topping the Europa League group was one of them. “Topping a European group three years in a row is quite an achievement. We only lost one game in this group, away to Olympiacos, and that’s also the only game we’ve lost in Europe in quite a few [21] matches. It’s been a brilliant record and a great run, and hopefully it will give us a day off somewhere in February too, which is huge because of the games we have at the moment,” Moyes, quoted on the club’s website, said after the match.
He added: “It was a much more positive game for us tonight. We did a lot of good things and could have scored more goals. We also kept a clean sheet and I thought Konstantinos Mavropanos and Nayef Aguerd did well. Freiburg are a big side, knock balls up from the back and they dealt with that well. We played well tonight, had control of the game and scored two good footballing goals in the first half. We also missed a couple of chances in the second half so hopefully we’re keeping them for Sunday’s match versus Wolverhampton Wanderers!”
Even though Moyes is happy in qualifying to the knockout rounds, he is equally pleased to avoid some big teams dropping down from the Champions League. “We were always through [to the knockout stages] before this game and I said before the match that I would taken that beforehand, all day long. But to win the group tops it too. I looked at the teams we could have played in the play-off round, that have dropped from the Champions League, and there were some tough teams in there, so I’m very happy we’re through and can look forward to March,” he explained.
West Ham have not been a regular in European competitions, a trend they are changing in recent past by consistently qualifying for those competitions. “We’ve not been a recognised European club for a long time and we’re hopefully getting a bit more recognised. We won the UEFA Europa Conference League last year and got to the Europa League semi-final the year before. With a bit of luck, we might just find we’re quite good at these European tournaments. We need big atmospheres to give us every chance of getting results,” he explained.
More Football Stories:
Wataru Endo news: Why did the Japanese midfielder decide to join Liverpool in the summer?
Manchester United news: How can the Red Devils turn their season around? Scott McTominay responds
Premier League: Which players have scored the most goals in a single season?
EPL stats: Which clubs have conceded the most last-minute winners in Premier League?
EPL stats: Which clubs have scored the most number of last-minute winners in Premier League?
How long will Kevin De Bruyne be out injured? Pep Guardiola responds
