West Ham 2-0 Freiburg: Edson Alvarez stars as Hammers seal direct path to Europa League last 16

West Ham cruised straight into the Europa League last 16 as Group A winners thanks to a comfortable win over Freiburg.

Edson Alvarez scored a stylish first Hammers goal and also delivered a delightful assist for Mohammed Kudus to seal an impressive 2-0 victory that saw David Moyes' previously fatigued and illness-ravaged side bounce back well from Sunday's humiliation by Fulham at Craven Cottage, effectively wrapping up the game by half-time.

Most importantly, the win means that West Ham, who had already sealed their progress from the group stage with a game to spare thanks to victory over Backa Topola in Serbia a fortnight ago, head directly into the last 16 of Europe's secondary club competition.

They will not need to contest a two-legged knockout play-off tie in the New Year against a team ousted from the Champions League, which is the fate that now befalls Freiburg, who were also already through but needed to win on Thursday night in order to leapfrog West Ham at the summit.

That will be a real relief for Moyes, whose side face three more games across the next 10 days with Premier League meetings against Wolves and Manchester United sandwiched between a Carabao Cup quarter-final trip to Liverpool.

And it should have been more emphatic for West Ham, almost back to full strength with captain Kurt Zouma and fit-again first-choice goalkeeper Alphonse Areola on the bench, with a Jarrod Bowen effort rightly ruled out for offside as Lucas Paqueta also thumped the crossbar during a dominant first-half display against Freiburg.

Bowen also missed a sitter after the interval, when Emerson and Kudus similarly went close again but could not find that elusive third goal to really put the game to bed.

Lukasz Fabianski was given a quiet night, but stood up when called upon as he made a smart low save to deny Freiburg's brightest player, Japan international Ritsu Doan.

The one-sided nature of the game meant that a grateful Moyes could afford to start substituting his key players as the evening wore on, with the likes of Alvarez, Bowen and Kudus all afforded rests of varying lengths.

West Ham now won't return until Europa League action until March, while Freiburg will discover their play-off opponents on Monday - a list that includes the likes of AC Milan, Benfica and Galatasaray.