West Ham United have secured their spot in the last-16 stage of the Europa League courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Freiburg at the London Stadium.
The English side entered the match knowing that they would automatically advance to the knockout round of the competition as Group A winners if they were able to avoid defeat to their Bundesliga opponents.
Freiburg, though, needed to win, and their loss at the London Stadium means that Christian Streich's side have been confirmed in the Europa League knockout round playoffs.
West Ham came close to making the breakthrough in the fifth minute when a cross from Mohammed Kudus was cleared into the path of Lucas Paqueta, but the midfielder's effort rattled off the crossbar.
The Hammers did manage to open the scoring in the 14th minute, though, with Kudus expertly beating the away team's offside trap before collecting a pass from Edson Alvarez and finishing into the back of the net.
David Moyes's side thought that they had doubled their advantage in the 26th minute through Jarrod Bowen, but the offside flag denied the Englishman, with VAR confirming that it was the correct decision.
Freiburg had a chance to level the scores in the 41st minute through Ritsu Doan, but his low effort, which was the away side's only attempt on target in the opening half of action, was straight into the gloves of West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
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West Ham doubled their lead shortly after, with Alvarez playing a one-two with Bowen before firing into the back of the net, leaving Freiburg with a mountain to climb in the European contest.
The hosts should have scored a third early in the second period through Emerson Palmieri after an excellent pass from Paqueta, but Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu was on hand to make a brilliant save.
Fabianski then had to make a smart stop down the other end to keep out an effort from Merlin Rohl, before Bowen and Kudus took it in turns to miss the away side's goal in quick succession.
West Ham's goalkeeper made another save in the 75th minute to deny Doan, before Noah Weisshaupt missed the target from the rebound, with the visitors looking to make it a grandstand finish.
Fabianski was again called into action late on to deny Rohl, but it never threatened to be an uncomfortable conclusion for West Ham, with the English outfit proving to be the superior side on the night, deservedly securing their spot in the knockout round of the competition.
West Ham's attention will now switch back to the Premier League, with the London side bidding to bounce back from their 5-0 loss at Fulham when they host Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
Freiburg, meanwhile, will be aiming to make it three straight Bundesliga wins when they welcome FC Koln on the same afternoon.
Matt Law
