Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes Mohamed Salah’s relentless drive to score goals will never end.

The Egypt international scored in the 6-1 Europa League demolition of Sparta Prague to bring up his 20th goal of the season, becoming the first player in the club’s history to reach that mark in seven successive campaigns.

“In seven years together with him, the one problem we never had was consistency,” said Klopp after the Egypt international’s first start since New Year’s Day after a hamstring injury.

“Mo is just delivering and delivering and delivering, his desire doesn’t stop, his quality is there and his desire to score doesn’t stop.

“He has improved in so many aspects since he started here. That’s how it is, he will not stop.

“I’m less surprised than maybe some others, I thought it had already happened to be honest, but he was injured for a while, otherwise he would have done it in January or February.

“But great, very good, and great to have him back.”

Salah also provided two assists for Bobby Clark and Cody Gakpo, who scored twice, with Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai also on target.

He completed his first 90 minutes in two months but Klopp admitted he had wanted to rest him earlier.

“It was not the plan he plays 90 minutes, the plan was to take him off when we brought on Mateusz (Musialowski) but Bobby Clark said (he felt something) and Mo is experienced enough that he recovers during the game.

“I told him not to defend any more – I never told a player that before.”

Liverpool progressed to the quarter-finals 11-2 on aggregate after an early blitz ruled out any remote hopes of a comeback from the Czech champions.

“The boys started the game incredibly well and 4-0 up in 14 minutes is really strange. From then on it became a strange game because how can you now stay greedy?” said Klopp.

Sparta boss Brian Priske accepted his side had been totally outclassed.

“Big respect to Liverpool how they played these two legs, the level from Sparta to Liverpool is massive. It is a completely different level,” he said.

“We never faced something like this. Liverpool is a Champions League team and they should be playing in the Champions League.”

Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi is targeting qualifying for Europe via the Premier League after his side were knocked out of the Europa League by Roma.

The damage was done for Brighton in last week’s 4-0 defeat in Rome and Danny Welbeck’s stunning solo strike on Thursday night – to hand them a 1-0 second-leg win – was not enough to extend their maiden European campaign as they suffered a 4-1 aggregate defeat.

De Zerbi said: “Today we saw the real Brighton and saw our team play with pride. I am proud because I saw 11 Roberto’s on the pitch.

“I knew my players were capable of responding this way because they are special people and they were hurting like me after losing 4-0 away.

“I believe in my players and I know we can fight to reach another historical target. We have 10 games left in the league and we will fight to qualify for another European competition.”

Brighton were in need of a miracle as no team in Europa League history had ever come back from losing a first leg by four goals away from home to qualify.

Despite the hosts dominating the first half, it was Roma who had the ball in the net after 23 minutes through a spectacular overhead kick from Sardar Azmoun.

Their celebrations were cut short when the goal was harshly chalked off for a high boot, handing Brighton a lifeline.

Welbeck fired the Seagulls in front after 37 minutes, picking up the ball midway inside the Roma half before exchanging passes with Pervis Estupinan and curling the ball into the top corner from 20 yards.

Roma came closing to levelling on the night early in the second half when Italy international Leonardo Spinazzola saw his shot rebound off the angle of post and crossbar.

Ansu Fati had two second-half efforts saved, while defender Jan-Paul Van Hecke also missed the target with two headers as the hosts failed to add to Welbeck’s goal and set up a nervy finish for their visitors.

Roma boss Daniele De Rossi said: “Brighton fought and they tried hard.

“We knew they would start very strongly because they always do and especially tonight, given the scoreline from the first leg.

“We must always be ready to fight, but with a clear mind. We were a bit sloppy at times and suffered a little bit but overall it was a good performance.

“It was more or less the kind of game I was expecting. We should have exploited more situations on the counter.

“We scored a goal that apparently was a legal one that was disallowed so we should have killed off the tie a lot earlier.”

Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland has promised to “keep knocking on the door” after his hopes of an England comeback later this month were quashed.

Butland, who has nine caps to his name but was last called up in 2019, had been tipped for Gareth Southgate’s squad to face Brazil and Belgium.

Established number one Jordan Pickford will be supported by Aaron Ramsdale and Sam Johnstone for those games but Butland has not given up all hope of a late bid for this summer’s European Championship.

The 31-year-old, who acted as Pickford’s deputy at the 2018 World Cup, reacted to his omission after the Gers’ narrow Europa League defeat to Benfica.

Asked if he had been contacted about a possible call-up, Butland told TNT Sport: “No, no discussions. But if your name’s being chucked in it’s because you’re doing something right.

“When I found out I wasn’t in the squad, it was back to normal, continue trying to do what I do here. That’s the only reason I’ve been in those discussions in the first place, because I’ve been playing and playing well.

“Could I? Should I? It doesn’t really matter. I’ve worked hard enough, I’ve done enough. Whatever the decision will be, there’s three fantastic goalkeepers going. I’ll just keep knocking on the door and see what happens.”

England manager Gareth Southgate is comfortable with fully focusing on making sure there is a Trafalgar Square party in July after European Championship success rather than worrying about his contract situation.

Southgate has made the conscious decision to put talks over his future on hold despite his current terms with the Football Association being set to expire in December.

Euro 2024 will be the fourth major tournament Southgate has taken charge of as England boss and he is determined to minimise any potential distractions.

“I have to deliver in the job I’m in, so there’s no point in me thinking any further ahead than that,” Southgate insisted.

“My focus is delivering the best possible European Championship for England. Since I came to St George’s, our target has been being in the final four of things, with the ultimate aim of winning.

“If you look at the trajectory of a team, we’re at that point where we’ve done a lot of the climb and the enjoyable bit and we’re at that last bit, really, of winning and getting over the line.

“We’ve shown the consistency in the world ranking for the last five years, so there’s consistency of performances. We have to translate that with the next step now.

“That’s the challenge I have to accept as well and I’m really comfortable with that.

“There’s no point in speculating about what might happen after the summer.

“I think we would have to sit and think about that at the end of the tournament. I’m happy to talk about it briefly now, but I’m not going to talk about for the whole summer, what’s next.

“We’ve consciously shelved any discussions internally about what might be next, because I think if we had sat and signed a new contract and done that before the tournament, everybody would have said: ‘Well, you did this with (Fabio) Capello and you should be proving yourself before you sign.’

“So, look, I’m completely relaxed about that and I have no idea where we’ll be in the middle of July, other than I hope it’s Trafalgar Square and let’s get the party on!”

On being the one to decide conversations around his contract being put on the back-burner, Southgate added: “Yes, because I think that has the potential to negatively affect the reaction to the team.

“The team need the clearest run they can possibly have at this tournament, so my job is to remove pressure from the team where possible.

“We’ve got to accept some pressure because we’re one of the favourites, but, equally, I don’t want to put anything additional onto the team.”

A key figure in England’s hopes of securing a maiden European Championship title is Jude Bellingham, who has enjoyed an excellent debut campaign at Real Madrid.

Bellingham has scored 20 times since a summer switch from Borussia Dortmund, but recently made headlines after he was sent off after he remonstrated with referee Jesus Gil Manzano at the end of a 2-2 draw at Valencia.

Southgate said: “I think with some of the great players that play with a mentality he has, I’m thinking (Steven) Gerrard, (Patrick) Vieira and (Roy) Keane, they compete. They don’t like losing, they love winning.

“They haul the team up by its boots at those moments and they are often on that line. That is often where he is, so the thing that gives him his greatest strength is something he has to make sure he is on the right side of.

“He has normally been able to stay controlled in those moments if he’s had a yellow card. This is the first time with the sending-off the other day that I can remember him stepping over that. He is a bright boy, he will learn from that.

“He is super intelligent and really receptive to learning and taking things in. He’s had an incredible season at historically the biggest club in the world. Everyone can argue with if that is still the case but we’re very happy to have him.

“We love that edge that he has but clearly he has to get that right.”

Gareth Southgate is aware Ben White could face a backlash after he made himself unavailable for England duty but felt it was “impossible” to conceal the reason behind Thursday’s omission.

White has starred for Premier League leaders Arsenal this season and was set to be part of this month’s 25-man squad for the friendlies with Brazil and Belgium.

However, Arsenal sporting director Edu informed John McDermott, technical director at the Football Association, last week that White does not want to be currently considered for England squads, having not been called-up since he was sent home early from the 2022 World Cup.

White left Qatar for what the Football Association called “personal reasons” but reports later emerged of an alleged bust-up with England assistant Steve Holland.

Southgate denied any such fall-out on Thursday, although White’s absence from a squad ravaged by injuries has already sparked debate over the future international prospects of the versatile defender.

“John McDermott had a call from Edu last week to say that Ben didn’t want to be considered for England squads at this time. For me, that’s a great shame,” Southgate reflected.

“For me, England was the pinnacle. Did I enjoy every moment with England? No. Were there moments where you thought ‘here we go, into the lions’ den’ if you like, literally? Yes, but I always wanted to challenge myself and test myself.

“And the things I regret in my life are the things that I’ve not had a go at, not the things that I’ve failed at. For me, it was always the ultimate, but, I wasn’t at a club going for the league title, or in the last couple of rounds of the Champions League. I can’t speculate what’s behind it.

“We have to respect that. There’s clearly a reason, but I don’t know the full reason.

“As I’ve said, in these situations I’ve tried to protect players. Clearly that is impossible at this point because the timing of asking to come off the long-list, and the fact that I don’t have huge credibility if I didn’t pick him on form!

“I don’t think it would be right not to state the situation we’re in. We’ve explained to Arsenal we were going to do that and if you make a decision like that, you do have to stand by it.

“But like I say, I want to keep the door open. I don’t want there to be a backlash. I understand that we’re in a situation where that could happen, but I believe he’s announced he’s signing a new contract, so there’s no question he’s got the love of the Arsenal fans.

“For me, the shame is that he’s a player I like. I can see his ability is obvious. I would have liked to have picked him, but it’s not an option that’s open to me.

“I completely respect it. The door for me is completely open. Look, we have to say that’s unlikely now for the Euros because of the situation this month. But moving forward, I would hope that he feels differently about it.”

Southgate handed White his England debut against Austria in June 2021, then drafted him into the squad for that summer’s rearranged Euros as replacement for the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold. The defender did not make an appearance in the run to the final, nor did he play a minute at the World Cup in Qatar.

The bombshell news that White does not want to add to his four England caps came hours after the announcement that he had signed a new and improved contract at the Emirates Stadium.

The 26-year-old agreed a new four-year deal, with the option for a further 12 months, the PA news agency understands, having featured in every Premier League game this term.

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill has shrugged off speculation linking him with the vacant job at Aberdeen but said he could not rule out a return to club football in the future.

O’Neill, 54, is among the names mentioned as a possible replacement for Neil Warnock, who stepped down as Dons boss on Saturday less than an hour after guiding the club to the Scottish Cup semi-finals, becoming the fifth manager to leave Pittodrie in the last three years.

After naming his Northern Ireland squad for the upcoming friendlies away to Romania and Scotland, O’Neill was braced for questions on his future.

“I don’t really give it much thought,” O’Neill told the PA news agency.

“As I’ve said, I was at Aberdeen against St Mirren two or three weeks ago, I was there to see two Northern Ireland players who play for St Mirren.

“That’s a story that has been in the Scottish media. I’m not in control of anything like that. My focus is always here. I signed a five-and-a-half-year contact when I came back.

“I’m not in control of what people speculate or what people write and it’s not something I give a lot of attention to.”

O’Neill returned to the Northern Ireland job in December 2022. He had previously been in charge for eight years, guiding the team to Euro 2016, before leaving for Stoke in early 2020.

Asked if he wanted to manage in club football again, O’Neill added: “I would never close the door on that but when I came back here I came back knowing the job that was in hand.

“I felt I had a group of players who had possibly one last campaign in them. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case because a number of those senior players missed the whole campaign with injury or some retired.

“We’re now in a different phase, we’re having to go through a redevelopment, to build a team with very young players.

“If I do leave at some point and go to club football, the IFA did very well out of me going to Stoke and that’s a bridge we would cross if I ever came to it, but it’s not something I’m focused on at this time.”

That redevelopment project will continue in Bucharest and Glasgow with O’Neill again forced to name a young squad.

Jonny Evans is missing with a calf problem while Stuart Dallas and Corry Evans remain injured, with Steven Davis having announced his retirement in January after more than a year on the sidelines.

After a Euro 2024 qualifying campaign in which a hugely inexperienced Northern Ireland won only three games, O’Neill is hoping to see further growth from his young players.

“This is another opportunity to develop the team,” O’Neill said.

“We have as many as 12 players in the squad who are either uncapped or in single figures so there’s not a huge amount of experience.

“We have to expose them to a level and in these two games we’re playing two teams who are going to the Euro finals in the summer.

“Romania won their group and had a great campaign, unbeaten in 10 games, and Scotland finished second behind Spain.

“It shows the players if they’re going to have to qualify for a major tournament they’re going to have to finish above teams of the calibre of Scotland and Romania. These games are a benchmark for us going forward.”

Wales boss Rob Page has backed Tom Lockyer’s calls for people to learn CPR after his squad acquired lifesaving skills three months before their team-mate collapsed.

Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest during Luton’s Premier League game at Bournemouth in December and his heart stopped for two minutes and 40 seconds.

The 29-year-old was saved as medics rushed to perform CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and provide early defibrillation.

Wales defender Lockyer has since supported the British Heart Foundation’s campaign for people to learn CPR skills, as well as raise funds for lifesaving research.

“The medical team came in and we did the class,” Page said of his squad undertaking a CPR and defibrillator training course in September that would take on special significance three months later.

“Tom is championing it at the minute, and rightly so.

“It just shows that there’s more to life than football.”

Lockyer returned to the scene of his on-pitch cardiac arrest on Wednesday for Luton’s re-arranged meeting with Bournemouth.

The 16-times capped central defender met medics who helped save his life and admitted that he “got a little bit emotional”, while describing them as “heroes”.

Lockyer has since been fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator and conceded it is “out of his hands” if he will ever play again.

But he will be part of Wales’ preparations next week as they bid to qualify for Euro 2024 and a third successive European Championship.

Wales host Finland in a play-off semi-final in Cardiff next Thursday, with the winners at home to Estonia or Poland five days later to decide a place in Germany this summer.

Page said: “I’ve had a good conversation with Locks and he’ll be a part of it. We don’t know what days or for how long yet.

“But he’s keen to come in and we’re keen to have him around the lads.

“I can only imagine how hard it was for Meps (Chris Mepham), Kieffer (Moore) and Brooksy (David Brooks) when they played that fixture and saw their mate on the floor like he was.

“I can only imagine how hard it would have been for them.

“They’ve had contact straight after and they’ve been in touch since, but it’ll be nice to have them all back in the group together.

“Forget football, just being together as good mates is powerful for them.”

Brighton’s battling 1-0 win at home to Roma was not enough to stop Roberto De Zerbi’s side exiting the Europa League at the last-16 stage.

Danny Welbeck’s magnificent first-half strike saw the Seagulls to victory but they fell well short of completing the miracle comeback required to wipe away last week’s 4-0 first leg defeat in Rome, losing 4-1 on aggregate.

After playing ‘The Great Escape’ on the Amex Stadium PA system before kick-off, Brighton signalled their intent right from the start with left-back Pervis Estupinan sending a dangerous cross into the gloves of goalkeeper Mile Svilar after only 31 seconds.

Captain Lewis Dunk headed across the face of goal from Pascal Gross’ corner before later smashing a free-kick into the Roma wall.

Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour also sent a volley over the crossbar after the Italians had only half cleared a Gross free-kick.

Roma’s first chance to get on the scoresheet came in the 15th minute as Sardar Azmoun dragged his shot wide after latching onto a loose Simon Adingra pass across his own penalty area.

The visitors looked to have opened the scoring eight minutes later through Azmoun’s overhead kick only for referee Felix Zwayer to harshly disallow the goal for a high boot.

That decision prompted an angry reaction from Roma boss Daniele De Rossi, who was shown a yellow card for his protests.

Brighton took the lead eight minutes before half-time courtesy of Welbeck’s spectacular strike.

The experienced former Arsenal and Manchester United striker picked up the ball midway inside the Roma half before playing a one-two with Estupinan and curling an unstoppable right-foot shot into the far corner from 20 yards out.

A fiery first half ended with eight yellow cards, including De Zerbi joining counterpart De Rossi in the referee’s notebook.

Another Brighton goal soon after the re-start would have set Roma nerves jangling and Julio Enciso tried to find it with a long-range shot that ended up well wide of the target.

Substitute Ansu Fati forced Svilar into a save when his cross-shot from wide on the left bounced awkwardly in front of the keeper.

Leonardo Spinazzola came within inches of putting Roma level on the night when he fired against the angle of post and crossbar following a mazy run.

Adingra should have done better in the 64th minute when heading straight at Svilar from point-blank range from an inviting Gross cross.

Jan Paul Van Hecke put a header wide from Welbeck’s looping cross and, while the home side dominated possession, they could not find any more goals as their first ever European campaign ended.

Mohamed Salah warmed up for Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United with a record-breaking goal in Liverpool’s 6-1 Europa League demolition of Sparta Prague at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were already virtually guaranteed a quarter-final place after their 5-1 first-leg victory but four goals in the opening 13-and-a-half minutes started the rout.

They were only the second team in major UEFA competition history to score four inside the first 14 minutes, after Chelsea against Jeunesse Hautcharage in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971-72, but Salah is one for setting standards not matching them.

The Egypt international, playing his first 90 minutes since New Year’s Day – due to the African Nations Cup and the hamstring injury he sustained playing in the tournament – scored the third goal for his 20th of the campaign.

It was the seventh-successive season he has reached the milestone and the first time any Liverpool player in their 132-year history had achieved such a feat.

If he needed any tuning up before the trip to Old Trafford then the Czech champions provided it as he also claimed two assists in that early blitz, with 19-year-old Bobby Clark benefiting to score his first goal for the club and Cody Gakpo turning home his cross from close range.

Darwin Nunez opened the scoring with a clinical strike from 16 yards – just seven minutes earlier – with the best of the quartet but that was forgotten in the blur of goals which followed as Sparta’s players were left chasing shadows and questioning their own abilities.

When the fourth goal went in, captain Ladislav Krejci, whose mistake had led to the second, called a crisis meeting in the middle of the pitch.

It all seemed a bit futile as even though their task at kick-off was an improbable one, their defending was so naive it bordered on the embarrassing.

Midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, who added the fifth two minutes into the second half, crossed for Nunez to clip home a shot in the seventh minute for his 17th of the season and his sixth in as many games.

But instead of keeping it tight, the visitors continued to play out from the back and when Salah charged down Krejci, the rebound fell kindly for Clark to slot under goalkeeper Peter Vindahl.

The favour was returned when Clark muscled Jaroslav Zleny off the ball 25 yards out to tee up Salah to curl home his milestone goal, Gakpo then turning home the Egyptian’s cross from close range after more sloppy defending.

Nunez ballooned over Liverpool’s easiest chance from six yards from another Salah cross before Conor Bradley’s fierce drive was parried by the goalkeeper.

Veljko Birmancevic held off the backtracking Wataru Endo to poke a shot past Caoimhin Kelleher just before the break but it was a brief respite as, after Nunez, Endo and Joe Gomez were replaced during the interval, Szoboszlai’s near-post drive took a deflection on the way in.

When Vindahl’s punch at a corner only reached the edge of the area Harvey Elliott fired in a low shot which Gakpo touched in with a cheeky backheel.

The Netherlands international wasted a glorious chance for his hat-trick, blazing over with only the goalkeeper to beat and despite taking his tally to 13 for the season, he is unlikely to start at the weekend.

Klopp’s preferred front three of Salah, Nunez and Luis Diaz will have 48 goals between them and the team as a whole have 117 goals in 45 games.

They will fancy their chances against a United side who have kept just four clean sheets – three of which came against mid-tabled League One opponents Wigan and Premier League strugglers Nottingham Forest and Everton – since they became the only club in the last 55 matches to prevent Liverpool scoring in a goalless draw in December.

Steve Borthwick has urged Manu Tuilagi not to turn his back on England after priming the powerful Sale centre for a cameo role in Saturday’s clash with France in Lyon.

Tuilagi will make his first appearance of the Guinness Six Nations, filling the vacancy on the bench created when Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s concussion-enforced absence resulted in Elliot Daly’s return to the starting XV.

It could be his farewell appearance in a Red Rose jersey as he considers a lucrative move to the Top 14 at the end of the season – when he will be 33 years old – with Montpellier his likely destination.

Tuilagi has been a central figure for four-successive England coaches because of his carrying threat but he could soon be following former team-mates Owen Farrell, Henry Arundell and Joe Marchant across The Channel.

“I’m hopeful Manu will be staying in England. There are no plans confirmed as yet, to my understanding,” Borthwick said.

“Ultimately it’s up to Manu and the opportunities that present themselves. From my point of view, he knows I would want him to be in England – I want all our best players playing in England.”

Tuilagi would have been involved earlier the Six Nations had it not been for a groin problem sustained in mid-December, the latest in a long list of injuries that have made him unavailable for international duty for lengthy spells.

Although in the twilight of his career, Borthwick believes Tuilagi still has plenty to offer England – both on and off the field.

“Manu adds huge amounts to this squad. He’s a player who impacts upon people and he impacts upon games. I’m looking forward to seeing him impact upon this game on Saturday night,” Borthwick said.

“Manu has been training well and has looked sharper and sharper. His training, work ethic and what he delivers on the field are always excellent.

“We’ve got a number of young players in this squad and he takes the time and the care to help them and pass his knowledge on.

“The very best players make everyone else be five per cent or 10 per cent better because of their presence and Manu has that effect.

“He’s socially robust within the group, he’s brilliant at bringing people together. He’s the one at the coffee machine making coffee for everyone to sit, chat and spend time with each other. He brings people together.”

Borthwick has kept faith with George Ford at fly-half despite Marcus Smith’s match-winning contribution off the bench in the 23-22 upset of Ireland last Saturday.

Smith brought extra zip and creativity to England in the latter stages, as well as landing the decisive drop goal, but Ford was also excellent outside of his goalkicking problems and his growing understanding with full-back George Furbank is seen as key.

“The prime reason for the decision is that both of them played really well. George played a really good game in many ways and the blend of the two of them is an exciting blend,” Borthwick said.

“We are trying to build that consistency and cohesion. If players haven’t played with each other, you can’t expect them to read each other.

“Having consistency in selection helps this team build and that’s an important step for us.”

Rangers manager Philippe Clement was proud of his players despite their narrow defeat by Benfica.

The Light Blues were in a good position to reach the Europa League quarter-finals following a 2-2 draw in Lisbon last week but they fell just short against the Portuguese champions.

Rangers were caught on the counter-attack as Rafa Silva netted the only goal of the second leg in the 66th minute at Ibrox.

Clement said: “It was a close tie but I’m proud of what my players showed. We played a better game than we did in Lisbon, better on the ball, but you need to be on your toes to compete with this kind of team with a much bigger budget.

“Everyone did that, everybody raised their level. Then you need to take your moments and we didn’t take enough, and they took theirs.”

The goal originated from a Rangers corner. The visitors emerged with the ball on the edge of their box and the home side did not have a player within 20 yards of their own half.

A simple ball forward was headed on by Angel Di Maria and Silva raced clear of Mohamed Diomande before slotting home.

The offside flag was raised but the VAR officials decided Silva was just inside his half when Di Maria headed the ball on.

Clement said: “We made a wrong decision for the goal. If Dio just runs with the attacker then nothing happens.

“But he is a young player who played for the first time at this level and he played a really good game.”

When pressed on why Rangers looked so exposed at their own corners, Clement said: “They have a lot of quality, that’s one thing. The goal against, we made the wrong decision.

“I don’t think they created a lot of chances from that. We also had counter attacks in the first half from set-pieces.”

Rangers struggled to create chances to get back in the game until substitute Todd Cantwell stabbed wide in stoppage-time and Clement admitted his injury list had taken its toll.

“At the moment we don’t have the same impact we had a few months ago,” he said. “All the guys who came in have come out with injury. It’s about hard work now to make them better again.

“Like Todd, if you only have one training session after eight weeks out you cannot expect miracles. You need to be lucky.

“It could have happened. He had one moment at the end which was just past the post. You gamble on that.

“That’s the situation and everyone is working very hard to get a bigger squad fit for the next few weeks and months.”

David Moyes hailed a “brilliant achievement” after West Ham reached another European quarter-final by flattening Freiburg 5-0.

Hammers boss Moyes uncharacteristically named an attacking line-up in a bid to repair the damage of the 1-0 Europa League first-leg defeat in Germany last week.

He was rewarded with a sparkling display as goals from Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Cresswell and two from Mohammed Kudus – including a sensational solo effort – secured a 5-1 aggregate win and a place in a the last eight of a European competition for a third-successive season.

“I’m hugely pleased with the goals and the level of the performance and how well the players have done,” said Moyes.

“We were really unhappy from the first game, the staff and the players. We thought we should not have come out with the result we had. We had to put it right and thankfully we did.

“I think for West Ham to be three years in a row for quarter-finals in European competition, I am not sure it has been done before in the club’s history.

“For where we have come from, to be in another quarter-final is a brilliant achievement. The club has moved on so much. We want to try to make it better if we can.”

Paqueta slid West Ham in front after nine minutes before Bowen celebrated his latest call-up to the England squad in style, shrugging off the attentions of Freiburg captain Christian Gunter before lashing the ball home from 20 yards.

Freiburg still posed a threat, though, with Roland Sallai firing across goal and wide just to let West Ham know the tie was still very much in the balance at half-time.

That lasted until six minutes into the second half, when Bowen’s square ball across the box was deflected out to Cresswell, lurking on the edge of the area.

The left-back, who was the fall guy in Frankfurt two years when his red card in the semi-final against Eintracht cost West Ham dearly, took a touch before leathering the ball inside the far post.

The best was still to come, despite there being little sign of danger when Kudus picked the ball up deep inside his own half.

The former Ajax wideman sprinted around 70 yards, slicing through the heart of the Freiburg defence before casually rolling the ball into the net.

“If anybody can remember dribbling wingers, who used to take people on, snake hips,” added Moyes.

“It was a brilliant individual goal, a Roy of the Rovers type.”

No wonder Kudus felt the need to borrow a photographer’s stool and sit down in front of the delirious home fans as his team-mates celebrated around him.

The rest had clearly done Kudus good, as he promptly collected Bowen’s lay-off and dispatched a low drive from 20 yards to complete West Ham’s five-star display.

As a consequence of their win, the Hammers may have also done some of their Premier League rivals a favour, with the result pushing England ahead of Germany in UEFA’s coefficient rankings, which could mean an extra spot in Europe next season.

LeBron James believes the Los Angeles Lakers are still playing "good ball", despite a 120-107 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday.

The defeat leaves the Lakers at 36-31, ninth in the Western Conference and three games back of the Kings, who currently occupy the sixth seed and would avoid the play-in tournament were the season to finish now.

The Kings' win on Wednesday means they have swept the Lakers 4-0 this season. Domantas Sabonis starred for Sacramento with 17 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists, while Harrison Barnes also hit seven 3-pointers as James finished with just 18 points.

The Lakers need an upturn in form if they are to avoid the play-in tournament, but despite suffering a defeat to a playoff rival in Sacramento, James still feels his team played well in some spots.

"We already knew we were in the gauntlet of our schedule," James told reporters.

"We already knew we had all the teams that were coming in, everybody positioning and jockeying, some of the best teams in the league. We knew it was a tough stretch for our ball club.

"But even with the loss to Denver, even with the loss to Sacramento both times, we've still been playing some good ball."

The win for Sacramento means Sabonis has now played against fellow center Anthony Davis 10 times during his career, winning all 10 of those clashes.

However, Sabonis hopes the growing talk of his impressive record against nine-time All-Star Davis quietens down, joking: "I don't pay attention to that.

"The more you guys bring attention to that, it makes my life harder. If anything, it will light a fire under him, so stop mentioning anything, please!"