Gregoritsch's late goal gives Freiburg edge over West Ham in UEL last 16

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A late tap-in from Michael Gregoritsch gave Freiburg a 1-0 victory towards West Ham within the first leg of their Europa League final 16 tie on Thursday.

After a testy opening, Convention League holders West Ham virtually took the lead on the 65-minute mark, however Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu denied Jarrod Bowen with an outstanding diving save.

Gregoritsch scored simply 11 minutes after approaching, tapping in from a metre out, his fifth aim in seven Europa League video games.

“We performed badly at the moment,” admitted West Ham captain Kurt Zouma.

A “very proud” Freiburg captain Christian Gunter instructed RTL “we threw every part at them — I believe we deserved to win.”

West Ham appealed for a penalty for handball deep into stoppage time after Noah Weisshaupt touched a Kalvin Phillips shot, sending the referee to the monitor.

Freiburg survived a protracted VAR evaluate to hold on to a slender lead forward of subsequent week’s second leg in London.

“I do not know if it was the appropriate choice. The choice took a little bit of time and the referee took a variety of time. It’s what it’s. The sport is over. I do not need to return to it now,” added Zouma.

“We had been slightly fortunate at the moment,” mentioned goalscorer Gregoritsch. “If a evaluate goes on so lengthy, you need to suppose to your self it could actually’t be that clear minimize.”

Hoping to make the quarter finals for the primary time, Freiburg got here into the sport having held Bayern Munich to a 2-2 draw on the similar venue on Friday.

The groups had already clashed within the group levels, with the English facet successful on each events.

The hosts began strongly and virtually had the lead after 30 seconds. West Ham defender Vladimir Coufal bought a last-ditch block on Roland Sallai’s try, setting the tone for a robust opening interval for the hosts.

The guests had the higher of a lot of the second interval, with Konstantinos Mavropanos virtually heading previous some sleepy Freiburg defending on the far publish on the 52-minute mark.

Atubolu leapt to disclaim Bowen on the counter after 65 minutes, the ‘keeper getting an outstretched hand on the England winger’s shot.

Freiburg supervisor Christian Streich, now in his twelfth 12 months as head coach after a taking part in profession on the membership, introduced on striker Gregoritsch within the seventieth minute.

The transfer quickly paid dividends, with the Austrian ahead in the appropriate place on the proper time to faucet in a low shot from Sallai with 9 minutes remaining.