David Moyes sets new English record to surpass Guardiola with West Ham victory
David Moyes doesn't often get the better of Pep Guardiola - but he has twice now.
By beating Freiburg 2-1 away from home, Moyes guided West Ham to a 17th European game unbeaten to edge ahead of Guardiola - and Don Revie and Bill Nicholson - in setting a new record for English sides. He also succeeded in keeping Lucas Paqueta away from Guardiola this summer and the Brazilian showed why the Manchester City boss wanted him so badly as he starred in West Ham's fine win.
He scored their first with a powerful header, was denied a second by the offside flag and should have had an assist when Jarrod Bowen shot wide from his beautiful ball. There's a maturity about West Ham and they did not panic when Freiburg came back in the second half to cancel out their lead and they sit proudly on top of Group A in the Europa League with two wins from two.
Bowen was chuffed to set a new English record and said: "I think that makes us want to keep going for as long as possible. We take so, so much pride in this."
Bowen was also delighted by Paqueta's performance and he loves playing with the playmaker. "Lucas gets better with every game we play in and you never know what he's going to do with the ball," he said.
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"He's got so much about him, with so much flair and control. You can see he's always running around, wanting to win the ball back and take the tackles. He takes the pressure off us and, when we need a focal point, we know we can rely on him. He's getting better in every game and I love playing with him."
West Ham fans were banned from the Stadion am Wolfswinkel because a few idiots threw missiles at the Europa Conference Final and the Hammers' opening goal on eight minutes was greeted by silence. Bowen celebrated his England recall by turning creator and he sent over a delicious cross from the right, which Paqueta rose to head home.
Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta combined to give West Ham the lead (Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)Have your say! Will West Ham win the Europa League? Let us know your prediction in the comments section.
It was all West Ham and calamity keeper Noah Atubolu nearly gifted them a second when he spilt Mohammed Kudus' shot onto the far post. The Hammers did bag a second through Paqueta, only for it to be chalked off for offside.
The Bundesliga side were a totally different proposition after the break and equalised within four minutes when Lukasz Fabianski made a fine double save from Roland Sallai and Lukas Kubler and Sallai smashed the rebound home. Freiburg should have taken the lead and Kiliann Sildillia's header came off the bar and post, only for Lucas Holer to blaze over from the rebound.
West Ham weathered this storm and Matthias Ginter deflected Bowen’s header behind for a corner and James Ward-Prowse swung it in for Nayef Aguerd to head home off the underside of the bar on 66 minutes. The Hammers were back on top and Kudus dragged a shot just wide before Bowen narrowly missed following some brilliant play by Paqueta.
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