West Ham United has honored Mohammed Kudus’ remarkable solo effort against Freiburg in the Europa League as the standout goal for the month of March.
Kudus scored his first goal of the match during the 5-0 victory at the London Stadium on Thursday, March 14, 2024, where he eventually netted a brace. This win propelled West Ham to the quarter-final stage of the competition.
His initial goal was particularly impressive, as he navigated past three opponents from his own half before calmly slotting the ball into the net with his weaker foot.
With these two goals, Kudus has now tallied 5 goals in the Europa League, placing him four goals behind the leading scorer, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who boasts nine goals.
This marks Kudus’ third goal-of-the-month accolade since joining West Ham in August 2023.
Ghanaian midfielder Mohammed Kudus is poised to achieve another milestone at West Ham United, as two of his remarkable goals in March have earned him nominations for the club’s esteemed Goal of the Month Award.
Kudus stands out as the only player with two goals in contention for this prestigious honour, with the final winner to be determined through a fan vote.
After facing difficulties following Ghana’s early exit from the 2023 AFCON tournament, which affected his form, Kudus made a remarkable comeback in March.
The former Ajax Amsterdam star demonstrated his skill by scoring twice against SC Freiburg in the Europa League, with both goals earning him nominations for the Goal of the Month Award.
One of these goals was a spectacular solo effort, initiated by a lightning-fast run from his own half.
In addition, he contributed a goal in a 4-3 loss to Newcastle and provided several assists throughout the month.
Among his nominated goals, Kudus’ first strike against Freiburg has garnered significant attention, with many predicting it not only to clinch him the Goal of the Month Award but also to position him as a strong contender for the Goal of the Season accolade.
West Ham captain Kurt Zouma candidly addressed his team’s challenges following their 1-0 loss to Freiburg.
The defeat puts West Ham in a difficult position for the Europa League quarter-finals, with Michael Gregoritsch’s late goal securing a crucial first-leg win for the hosts.
Despite the loss, Zouma acknowledged the need for improvement, as the Hammers struggled to assert dominance, matching Freiburg with four shots on target and holding just 41% possession.
Having previously defeated Freiburg in both home and away matches during the group stage, West Ham remains hopeful of a comeback in the last-16 second leg at the London Stadium. However, Zouma emphasized the necessity for significant improvement in their performance.
The French defender, 29, told TNT Sports: “It was a tough game today, we didn’t play well throughout the whole game. We didn’t have many chances.
“There is another game next week and hopefully we can play better.
“There are many things [which could be to blame], we didn’t start the game the right way, maybe physically but no reason.
“There are days like this in football.”
Despite a below-par performance, West Ham felt they should have been awarded a penalty in stoppage time when the ball appeared to strike the arm of Noah Weisshaupt in an unnatural position.
The referee’s decision not to award the penalty, despite a lengthy VAR check, was controversial. However, Zouma insisted that the late drama should not be used as an excuse for the defeat.
He added: “I don’t know [if it was the right decision]. The decision took a bit of time and the referee took a lot of time. It is what it is.
“The game is over. I don’t want to go back to it now.”
Despite injury concerns, Angel Di Maria and Federico Chiesa are still in contention to play in Juventus’ Europa League last-16 second leg against SC Freiburg.
Di Maria appeared to be hampered by a left thigh injury late in Juventus’ 1-0 first-leg win over Sampdoria last Thursday, where he earlier scored the winner, and missed Juventus’ 4-2 Serie A win over Sampdoria on Sunday.
Chiesa entered the game against Freiburg in the 67th minute but suffered a right knee injury, which the club confirmed was not ligament capsule damage.
Massimiliano Allegri, head coach of the Bianconeri, is hopeful that the pair will play some part in the second leg, though he admits they will not be fit to start.
“It is very unlikely they will be there from the start, as we only recovered them this morning, but they could be of use during the match,” Allegri told reporters.
“I will evaluate Chiesa and Di Maria tomorrow morning and from there I can make my decision on the starting line-up.
“Unfortunately, Di Maria had this injury after the first leg with Freiburg and had to miss quite a few training sessions.
“The test went well today, that doesn’t mean he has a lot of minutes in his legs, but there is the risk we could lose him for 40 days, seeing as that is what happened in September.
“Tomorrow is important, but we also have many more matches to play this season.”
Di Maria has scored eight goals in all competitions with four Serie Aa assists this term, while Chiesa has contributed three league assists with one goal.
🎙 Allegri: "Let's take it one step at a time. Let's think about going through and then the match against Inter. Going forward in the Europa League, I always say, fills the calendar, so we train less, play more and have fun."#SCFJUV
Allegri declared striker Dusan Vlahovic was fully fit and available to play although he declined to commit to starting him alongside Moise Kean.
Vlahovic has not scored in his past six appearances dating back to his goal against Nantes in the Europa League on February 16.
“Dusan Vlahovic was very sad that he hasn’t scored recently, but is fine physically. I am relaxed and certain that he’ll soon be back on the scoresheet,” Allegri added.
“We want to score here, because just trying to defend for 0-0 is really not a good idea. Freiburg are good on set plays, we need to be very organised and concentrated for the full 100 minutes.”
Borussia Dortmundsecured a last-gasp draw with Bayern Munich on Matchday 9 — and things do not get any easier this weekend with a trip to leaders Union Berlin.
Bayern, meanwhile, face a tricky test of their own as they host second-placed Freiburg.
Eintracht Frankfurt face struggling Bayer Leverkusen, while the Bundesliga’s bottom two sides meet when winless Stuttgart play Bochum.
Elsewhere, RB Leipzig will be looking to maintain their recent upturn in form when they take on Hertha Berlin.
Game of the week: Union Berlin vs Borussia Dortmund (Sunday, 4.30pm)
Table-toppers Union are enjoying their best-ever start to a Bundesliga campaign with 20 points from nine games — but they will have to defy more of their own history to get the better of Dortmund.
The Berlin outfit have a worse top-flight loss percentage against the visitors than any other opponent (67%) and have suffered defeat in each of their last three meetings with them.
Additionally, they have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last eight competitive clashes with BVB and have conceded more Bundesliga goals against them (16) than any other side except Bayern (also 16).
However, the league leaders have the best defence in Germany’s top flight this year, conceding just six times and boasting a division-low expected goals against tally of 8.1.
Union are unbeaten in their last 10 Bundesliga home games (seven wins, three draws) and will hope to continue that run against Edin Terzic’s men.
Bayern go into this fixture below Freiburg for just the third time in their history — but they have the chance to leapfrog their opponents with a win.
Julian Nagelsmann’s men are enduring their worst start to a season in 12 years. But history is on the reigning champions’ side in this fixture, with Die Roten never having lost a home Bundesliga match against Freiburg (19 wins, three draws).
However, the Breisgau Brazilians are one of just two teams who are still unbeaten away from home this term, so will hope to maintain that record in Bavaria.
Freiburg have also scored in each of their last eight clashes with Bayern — doing so again will certainly boost their chances of a positive result.
Bayern Munich were comprehensive winners in their last match against Freiburg
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Bayer Leverkusen (Saturday, 2.30pm)
Leverkusen’s 4-0 win over Schalke last Saturday saw them climb into 15th place and out of the drop zone.
But Eintracht Frankfurt are not the side they would have wished to come against next, as they look to turn that momentum into a positive run.
The hosts have won more Bundesliga home games against Leverkusen than against any other side (21) — and Xabi Alonso’s side only have a worse away loss percentage against Bayern (74%) than they do versus this weekend’s opponents (57%).
In fact, Leverkusen have lost their last four trips to Deutsche Bank Park.
However, Die Adler have conceded three goals in defeats to both Bochum and Tottenham in the past week and will be hoping for a positive response.
Stuttgart vs Bochum (Saturday, 2.30pm)
The league’s bottom two clubs — Stuttgart and Bochum — face off in a critical encounter.
The hosts sit one place higher with five points to their rivals’ four — but are the only team in the league yet to taste victory.
Bochum have the worst away record in the division (zero points) but come up against the league’s worst home side in Stuttgart (two points).
Die Schwaben are unbeaten in their last 23 home games against Bochum in all competitions (16 wins, seven draws). However, they have also failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 26 Bundesliga matches at home — a club record.
RB Leipzig vs Hertha Berlin (Saturday, 5.30pm)
Timo Werner is starting to regain his goalscoring touch after returning to RB Leipzig from Chelsea in the summer
RB Leipzig have started tentatively picking up form after a poor start to the season, earning four points from their last two league outings.
And this clash with Hertha Berlin represents a good chance to build some momentum, with Leipzig winning 10 of their 12 Bundesliga matches against the club from the capital (one draw, one defeat) — scoring 45 goals in the process. Both those tallies are higher than against any other side.
Hertha are unbeaten in their last five games but have only won once in 2022-23, drawing their last four in a row.
Leipzig will look to Timo Werner to break that streak, with the striker having been involved in 12 Bundesliga goals against Hertha in his career (eight goals, four assists) — only managing more against Mainz.
The weekend’s other games
Schalke vs Hoffenheim (Friday, 7.30pm)
Werder Bremen vs Mainz (Saturday, 2.30pm)
Wolfsburg vs Borussia Monchengladbach (Saturday, 2.30pm)
Ten of 11 men accused in the gang rape of a woman in the southern city of Freiburg in 2018 have been sentenced to jail terms. The case was seized upon by anti-immigration populists, as most of the men are refugees.
A German regional court on Thursday handed jail sentences of up to five and a half years to members of a group of men accused of jointly raping an 18-year-old woman in the southern city of Freiburg in October 2018.
The longest jail sentence was given by the Freiburg court to the main perpetrator of the crime, while seven men received prison sentences of between three and four years.
Two accused received suspended jail sentences of four and six months, respectively, for their failure to render assistance to the victim. One man was found not guilty of involvement in the rape.
Fuel for immigration debate
The men were accused of raping the woman in bushes near a disco for over two hours while she was helpless under the influence of alcohol and the drug Ecstasy. The court heard evidence that the woman’s drink had been spiked at the nightclub. They had claimed that the sex was consensual.
The accused, of whom only one possessed a German passport, were aged 18 to 30 at the time of the crime. Eight of the men are from Syria. The case was seized upon by populist opponents of a liberal immigration and refugee policy to support their stance.
Before the verdicts were issued, however, Freiburg Mayor Martin Horn praised residents of the city for their rationality. “I think Freiburg has reacted impressively,” he told the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday, adding he was “proud and grateful” that the majority of residents had spoken out against generalizations targeting non-Germans.
“It was right and important that Freiburg, as a cosmopolitan city, took a considered stance: the perpetrators have to be punished according to the rule of law, while at the same the vast majority distanced itself from populist instrumentalizations,” he said.
Promising Ghanaian midfielder Kelvin Ofori is set to make his Bundesliga debut after being named in Fortuna Düsseldorf’s squad for their trip to Freiburg.
The 18-year-old has played two competitive matches for Fortuna but all in the DFB Cup.
Under former coach Friedhelm Funkel, the former Right to Dream player was named in the match day squad on six occasions.
New coach Uwe Rösler see Ofori as a great talent and hopes he can solve one-on-one situations and also play clever passes behind the opponent’s defence
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