Third-Round Exit Again For Hammers
It wasn’t the best start to Graham Potter’s time in charge of West Ham United, as they are out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle after losing the all Premier League tie 2-1 to Aston Villa at Villa Park on Friday night.
Tomáš Souček was once again named as captain in the absence of Jarrod Bowen, as Potter made three changes to Julen Lopetegui’s last starting line-up. Alphonse Areola wasn’t in the matchday squad at all, meaning that Łukasz Fabiański returned in goal with Wes Foderingham on the bench and Konstantinos Mavropanos was restored in place of the injured Jean-Clair Todibo. Crysencio Summerville retained his place from last weekend’s defeat at The Etihad Stadium.
Youngster Oliver Scarles was given his first start, while Luis Guilherme and Kaelan Casey were amongst the substitutes.
Given that Potter was only confirmed as Head-Coach on Thursday morning, it was perhaps surprising that the Hammers made such a confident start and they might have gone ahead early on through Lucas Paquetá. A great team move resulted in the Brazilian firing just wide of Robin Olson’s goal.
More good combination play meant the East Londoners did grab the advantage with just nine minutes gone through the same player, who ended the move by beating Olson and sending the travelling support wild.
Paquetá was clearly up for the contest and would have put his side further in front, had it not been for a crucial block by Matthew Cash.
The Villains have struggled to progress in this competition for a number of years and they didn’t look like they would go any further here even at this point in the game, as the Irons continued to put them under relentless pressure with Edson Álvarez missing the target, while Mohammed Kudus was brilliantly denied by the Swedish goalkeeper.
Potter was dealt a blow after fifteen minutes when Niclas Füllkrug went off injured and was replaced by Danny Ings.
In West Ham’s last meeting with Unai Emery’s side back on the opening weekend of the current campaign, the visitors were on top and clearly looked in control before the hosts equalised. However, on this occasion, Emery needed to say some encouraging words in order to spark a reaction from his men. On the other hand, the new man in the away dugout would have been pleased with the performance and would have wanted his side to keep going.
On a cold night in Birmingham, Summerville appeared to pick up an injury late in the first-half. With a busy schedule coming up, Potter decided to substitute the former Leeds United winger as a precaution and introduce Vladimír Coufal into the action.
Although the hosts improved when referee Tim Robinson restarted the game, the visitors remained resilient, despite beginning to tire.
Nothing that Emery’s side tried was coming off for them. Ian Maatsen, Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans all tried their luck. However, Maatsen did later test Fabiański with a near post effort but thankfully the Pole dealt with it well.
West Ham really should have taken some of their numerous chances, as they were made to pay on seventy one minutes, when Amadou Onana, who replaced Ross Barkley on twenty three minutes, equalised, albeit from a disputed corner. Oliver Watkins emerged with the ball at his feet but his initial shot was blocked. Unfortunately for the Irons though, the ball fell kindly for Onana who had the easiest of finishes past Fabiański, despite the visitors’ best efforts to keep the ball from crossing the line.
The home side suddenly had a spring in their step and turned the game on its head just five minutes later when Watkins played in Rogers, who sent his shot through the legs of Mavropanos and past the Irons’ stopper.
With his side now behind and with considerable time left to get themselves on level terms, Potter sent on Aaron Cresswell to take the place of Scarles.
Having turned the game in their favour, the Villains were within inches of increasing their advantage when Jacob Ramsey, who had entered the fray for Leon Bailey after they had equalised, thumped his attempt against the post.
Both Guilherme and Carlos Soler were late changes by Potter in place of Mavropanos and Álvarez.
Six minutes of stoppage time were added on at the end of the ninety and Ings was firstly denied by a block before wasting a golden chance to send the encounter into extra-time. In between, Soler was also close to finding a leveller.
In the end, the late rally from the Hammers was to no avail and they will not play on in this competition.
The focus for Potter now is to help his side collect more league points and that starts with Tuesday night’s visit of Fulham.