West Ham’s failure to take their chances, as well as a controversial VAR decision, led them to defeat in the first leg of their clash with Freiburg.

A frustrating night for West Ham as they were defeated narrowly by SC Freiburg. The game was there for the taking, but the Hammers just could not find the goal they so desperately needed.

The hosts started the game brightly with a good chance straight from kick-off, but it eventually came to nothing. David Moyes had clearly set up his side to keep the game tight and the defensive players executed his plan to perfection in the first-half. 

Both teams had one excellent chance before the break, Freiburg’s came through Holer who had a clean shot at goal but hit it straight at Fabianski. The Hammers’ came through Jarrod Bowen who got on the end of a brilliant cross from Kudus, just failing to control the ball properly.

It was not the most entertaining 45 minutes of football and while the second came with many more chances for West Ham they still could not find the back of the net. Paqueta in particular had a number of brilliant opportunities to put his side ahead.

Unfortunately, Emerson was forced with an injury in the 68th minute and 13 minutes later, despite the Irons being the much better side, Gregoritsch gave the Germans the lead following a shot-turned through ball that caught Zouma daydreaming. 

Infuriatingly, West Ham were denied a blatant penalty following a lengthy VAR check. When jumping for a ball with Tomas Soucek, Weisshaupt slaps the ball with his arms well above his head yet, for some unknown reason, the referee stuck with his original decision of a goal kick after looking at the monitor. 

It is also worth noting that this is not the first time referee Alejandro Hernandez has made a questionable call against West Ham, he was in the VAR room for the 2nd leg against Frankfurt two seasons ago where Aaron Cresswell got an extremely soft red card.

Despite the ridiculous decision, our Irons only have themselves to blame for the loss. Apart from one defensive mistake the game plan worked extremely well, but the forward players failed to make the most of some brilliant opportunities when in front of goal. If every player can up their performance by 10%, there is absolutely no reason we can not have a repeat of the Sevilla tie last time we was in the Europa League round of 16.