West Ham hammered Freiburg 5-0 to advance to the Europa League quarter-finals but their manager’s take is truly bizarre.
It was another European night to remember for West Ham when Freiburg came to the London Stadium.
The Hammers had it all to do to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg of their Europa League last 16 clash.
David Moyes’ side did that and then some.
Playing a more attacking side with Michail Antonio in for James Ward-Prowse, West Ham ran out comfortable winners.
In fact it was West Ham’s biggest ever European win. And it secured a third consecutive European quarter-final.
Goals from Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen in the first half put West Ham ahead in the tie.
And three brilliant second half strikes from Aaron Cresswell and man of the match Mohammed Kudus sealed the rout.
West Ham were far superior to Freiburg all over the pitch. And it showed in the scoreline.
But the opposition’s manager had a very different take.
Freiburg boss Christian Streich has made a truly bizarre claim about West Ham after the hammering.
Speaking on Freiburg’s official website, Streich suggested the scoreline flattered the Hammers.
“I didn’t feel like West Ham played us off the park over the 90 minutes,” Streich said.
“We were a bit awkward on the ball, and they showed their immense individual quality.
“Therefore, the final score unfortunately got away from us.”
If Streich is basing his assessment on possession then you can maybe make a case for his take.
Freiburg had 61 per cent to West Ham’s 39 per cent – nothing unusual there for the Hammers.
But West Ham had seven shots on target and 12 in total to Freiburg’s three efforts on target.
West Ham had six corners to one for the Germans.
Freiburg have been West Ham’s opposition for half of their eight Europa League matches this season.
And the Hammers have won three of the four meetings.
Forget the statistics, though, you just need to use the good old fashioned eye test for this game.
West Ham battered the visitors into submission.
The gulf between the Premier League and Bundesliga was clear.
Particularly from an attacking sense.
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