West Ham prevail as Freiburg lay consigned to second place in Group A
Tonight's 2-0 loss in London means Christian Streich’s Freiburg advance in second place from Group A and will subsequently enter the Round of 32 in February.
Despite coming into the clash in pole position thanks to their superior goal difference, Freiburg met an iron-willed West Ham this evening who wasted no time in asserting their dominance. The claret and blue side hit the front in the 14th-minute - Kudus latched onto Edison Alvarez's long ball, rounded Makengo and slotted past Atubolu.
While the Breisgauers posed some threat namely through Dōan at the heart of things, seldom could done to prevent West Ham establishing a 2-0 lead. Alvarez turned goal-scorer on this occasion, playing a swift one-two with Bowen to guide home unmarked.
A handful of chances fell both in favour of the hosts and visitors after the restart - Atubolu reacted smartly to repel Emerson, while Merlin Röhl stung the palms of Fabianski. The lively Kudus came close to bagging his brace when he curled past the left upright.
After a series of bench alterations for both outfits, Ritsu Dōan came closest for a second time. The Japanese international perhaps unlucky to be denied by a spectacular Fabianski save who got down low to his right in time. Röhl's final attempt as injury time approached failed to beat the rock solid Polish shot-stopper.