West Ham: David Moyes had to give up on Plan A in order to continue the team’s Europa League run.

The Hammers will continue to have the edge to advance to the quarterfinals.
If the game had ended at 80 minutes, you could have come to the conclusion that a goalless match that was never going to end was always the plan, which is a credit to West Ham’s increasing image as shrewd European operators.

Undoubtedly, a draw in the rematch at the Black Forest would have made West Ham heavy favorites to advance via a straight shootout at the London Stadium in one week, given that they had already defeated Freiburg twice in this Europa League group stage.

Though forward-planning may be a risky game, the Hammers were brought down by a late twist in Michael Gregoritsch’s close-range strike after having so easily kept their German opponents at bay for so long.

They came dangerously close to saving face in another, but referee Alejandro Hernandez stuck to his guns and did not award a penalty for handball in stoppage time, even after a thorough VAR examination.
The team led by David Moyes is still very much in the race. However, they now have to accomplish what they haven’t done since the night they made it to the opening round of that run—come back from behind in a tie—in order to qualify for a third consecutive European quarterfinal.
Moyes is the greatest authority on the necessity of using means to justify ends, yet his team’s strategy made sense. The results of the English teams competing in the early Europa League kickoffs on Thursday night served as a reminder that although these matches may be decided in the first

leg, they are definitely loseable.

As a result, even after losing, West Ham’s hopes are still very much alive, even if Brighton is virtually out and Liverpool has already secured a spot in the final eight.
If there was a window of opportunity for them to take the lead, it was the fifteen minutes following the interval, when West Ham’s front three were given freedom to operate in a cagey manner.

Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen, and Lucas Paqueta were all starting in the same lineup for the first time during this group stage match, which gave Moyes’ club their first look at the template they have either relied on or badly missed since.

Having already encountered it twice this season,

It should come as no surprise that Freiburg took particular notice of the threat, doubling up on both wide players and making sure combinations between the three needed to be worked out. When Kudus and Bowen did connect once in the first half, the latter messed up his back-post attempt, maybe thinking a defender would touch it.

But after the interval, Ritsu Doan ducked back in time to deny the Brazilian an even better opportunity, and Kudus found Paqueta with a superb pass that should have been headed home. Bowen also had a chance, but Noah Atubolu turned his curler around the post for the home goal.
To get here, Freiburg had defeated Lens, the Champions League elimination team, in a playoff match, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 in overtime. Absent the same

Despite their forced hurry, they appeared to be in danger of letting this game—and undoubtedly their finest chance to cause a stir—pass them by.

However, Kurt Zouma reacted slowly when Lukasz Fabianski parried Roland Sallai’s shot, and substitute Gregoritsch went unmarked to poke home.

Having discarded Plan A, West Ham will have ninety minutes the following week to devise a new plan.