Edson Alvarez hails 'magic night' as West Ham star helps seal Europa League passage

Edson Alvarez hailed a "magic night" after scoring his first West Ham goal and admitted Sunday's hammering by Fulham had been a "slap in the face".

The Hammers secured top spot in their Europa League group with a 2-0 victory over Freiburg here at London Stadium and in the process ensured they qualify directly for the last 16, avoiding a knockout play-off against a Champions League dropout in the New Year.

Alvarez created the opener for Mohammed Kudus with a superb pass and was then on target himself with his first goal since signing from Ajax this summer.

"It was a special, magic night," the Mexican said. "I'm happy for scoring my first goal in this beautiful shirt.

"[For my goal] I saw Jarrod [Bowen], so I passed to him and he gave me a very nice pass in front of the goal, so it was difficult to miss. I hope we're going to see some more goals, too."

Alvarez was a telling absentee through illness as the Hammers were thumped 5-0 at Craven Cottage, underlining his importance to David Moyes, who does not have a like-for-like replacement.

That defeat itself came only three days after the Hammers had claimed a 2-1 win at Tottenham — and Alvarez knows discovering a degree of consistency will be key to the rest of the campaign. "We were six games unbeaten before the Fulham game," he said. "Of course, that game we lost at Fulham was a slap in the face for us not to be [over] confident, keep working.

"Obviously, at times the results don't go your way, but that's part of football and we don't have to go crazy. We are close to the fifth, fourth places in the Premier League."

The victory saw the Hammers become only the sixth English club to top a European group in three successive seasons.

Having reached the semi-final of this competition two years ago, then winning the Conference League last term, there is belief they could be set for another deep run when they resume their campaign in March.

"The main objective is to fight for this competition," added Alvare. "After that, there are also teams of a high level, but after the way we played tonight, we have a good chance."

Alvarez had no experience of English football when West Ham paid £32million to secure his signature this summer, but had previously come close to joining Chelsea.

The 26-year-old was brought in to replace the Arsenal-bound Declan Rice and has played all but two of the Hammers' Premier League matches since making his debut, with West Ham yet to pick up a point without him in their line-up.

"The first few months were quite difficult," said Alvarez, whose side return to Premier League action when they host Wolves on Sunday.

"It's not easy to take such a big leap in a competition that, for me, is the best, but I haven't even been here six months and I've responded quite well.

"If I consider myself to be self-critical, I know I can do better, but it's all part of growing, I have a lot of faith."