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Mohammed Kudus scores Puskas Award contender that could have huge implications on Erik ten Hag’s Man Utd future

Mohammed Kudus scores Puskas Award contender that could have huge implications on Erik ten Hag’s Man Utd future

Mohammed Kudus' goal of the season for West Ham may have huge implications for Manchester United's season.

Chris Byfield

Chris Byfield

Mohammed Kudus' goal of the season contender for West Ham may have huge implications for Manchester United's season.

On Thursday, West Ham sealed their place in the Europa League quarter finals by dismantling Freiburg 5-0 at the London Stadium to claim a 5-1 aggregate win.

Last season's Europa Conference League winners opened the scored through Lucas Paqueta, before Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Cresswell put the Hammers out of reach.

Kudus then went on to score two late stunners, the first of which may be a Puskas Award contender, to seal the 5-0 win.

For the game's fourth goal, the Ghanaian picked up the ball in his own half, weaved through the Freiburg midfield and defence before finishing with his right foot. It was a goal not unlike Diego Maradona's famous strike at the World Cup in 1986.

And strangely, West Ham's victory could have huge implications on Erik ten Hag's future at United.

The Dutchman is under pressure to claim a Champions League spot this term, and the Hammers' victory may go a long way to making that a reality.

Two leagues will be rewarded with an extra place in next season's Champions League based on performance in Europe this season, all part of the revamp to expand the competition to 36-team competition.

And West Ham's win means it is all but certain that the Premier League and Italy's Serie A will be the two leagues awarded the extra Champions League spot, based on their teams' UEFA coefficient ranking.

United are currently eight points adrift of the top four, but just six points behind Tottenham Hotspur in that all-important fifth spot.

In late February United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe said in no uncertain terms that Champions League was the club's target this season.

"We really, really want to get into the Champions League next year - it’s quite important for FFP," Ratcliffe told the BBC. "It's a two to three season challenge to get the organisation and environment right to produce results.

"Our focus is absolutely on the field, winning football matches, but the first thing is the organisation - the design of the organisation needs to be correct. If you take the example at the moment with the coach reporting to the chief executive, that doesn't make any sense."

Featured Image Credit: TNT Sports/Getty

Topics: Europa League, Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Champions League

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.