In the stands, the only chants that could be heard came from the Freiburg supporters, with West Ham fans unable to experience the atmosphere within the Europa-Park Stadion due to a stadium ban applied by UEFA. The away end was “something really special”, as Christian Streich had predicted before the game, with it also filled with SC fans.
On the pitch, West Ham put up strong resistance from the very beginning. The game began openly, but after a few minutes the reigning Europa Conference League winners took control of the game, putting Nicolas Höfler and his teammates under pressure and getting into the West Ham box for the first time after six minutes. Mohammed Kudus carried the ball into the penalty area, but Lucas Höler showed his commitment to SC once again, even as a striker in his own box. He put in a strong sliding challenge, blocking Kudus before he managed to take a shot.
West Ham take the lead
Three minutes later, though, and Noah Atubolu was picking up the ball out of the back of his net. Jarrod Bowen swung a cross in from the right-hand side and Lucas Paqueta rose highest in the middle, heading the ball down into the far corner to make it 1-0. SC reacted well, but Höler’s shot from distance was straight at Lukasz Fabianski in the West Ham goal. The ‘Hammers’ then almost doubled their lead, with Kudus shot spilled by Atubolu, but fortunately for the Freiburg ‘keeper the ball spun onto the post, and he was then able to safely gather it again. Bowen had the ball in the back of the net a minute later, but he was offside.
For SC, the focus remained mainly on being solidly defensively, with too much inaccuracy in attack in the face of high tempo football from the English side. “The level in the Premier League is very high” said Streich before the game, and this was also clear for all to see under the floodlights on Thursday evening. The dangerous Kudus cut in from the right time and time again, but with half an hour gone, the hosts had grown into the game and were having the better of the challenges and had more possession.
SC put their opponents under increasing pressure in their own half and had more of the ball. West Ham were happy to allow the hosts the ball, but in the final third there was consistently a man in the way to make a block or the last pass was too inaccurate. Streich, who hadn’t sat for a minute the whole match, drove his team on, while West Ham coach David Moyes also encouraged his team to play more attackingly.
SC grab the momentum of the game
SC started the second half with a change, with Ristu Doan, who was involved almost immediately, replacing Adamu, and the team overall providing much more of an attacking threat and finding the equaliser. Sallai finally finished off a triple chance to draw SC level. Doan slid the ball through to Sallai, whose initial shot was well-saved by Fabianski, with Vincenzo Grifo’s follow-up then cleared off the line, but this fell straight to Sallai, who drilled his shot into the roof of the net from close range to level the game up (49’). Two minutes later, the Hungary international had another chance, but his shot from distance was dealt with by Fabianski.
SC picked up where they left off at the end of the first half, were holding their own against the Premier League’s seventh-placed side and looked the more likely side to take the lead. Höler had the best chance, with Kiliann Sildillia’s header striking the post and falling perfectly for him in the middle of the box, but he flashed over the target (56’). West Ham’s attacking threat from the first half an hour was almost completely forgotten, with SC completely in the game and looking lively. Set pieces can always pose a threat though, and Nayef Aguerd headed home from a corner to make it 2-1 to the visitors against the run of play (66’).
After the second goal, and with substitutes Merlin Röhl, Maximilian Philipp and Noah Weißhaupt on the pitch, the game opened up once again, and it was the visitors who were the more active team. Sallai had another shot for SC, but his shot from the left-hand side rolled narrowly wide of the far post, while Kudus dragged a shot wide at the other end (78, 79’). SC kept pushing forward in the final stages, with Weißhaupt breaking through but his cross not finding anyone in the middle. It was a similar story with Matthias Ginter’s header in additional time. Philipp’s shot from the edge of the box was blocked wide for a corner and Röhl’s header from the resulting corner flew over the target.
The game finished in a narrowly defeat, with Streich stating: “We conceded an early goal and then didn’t trust ourselves to play constructive, brave football and were deservedly behind. We spoke about that at half time and the team were completely transformed after half time. We had a lot of good situations and the chance with Luci to make it 2-1. At that point, it would have been fully deserved to take the lead. In the end, we lost due to a set piece and an error. We are disappointed, but happy with the second half.”
Photo: Achim Keller