FINALLY, someone else can have a go. Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City must now let the Carabao Cup out of their grasp after their dominance in the competition. It had been five years and one day since Guardiola and his City team lost a tie in this competition, suffering defeat in the fourth round […]
FINALLY, someone else can have a go.
Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City must now let the Carabao Cup out of their grasp after their dominance in the competition.
It had been five years and one day since Guardiola and his City team lost a tie in this competition, suffering defeat in the fourth round at Manchester United with Juan Mata scoring.
But after winning the Cup four seasons in a row – and cleaning up six times in eight attempts – it is probably a good thing a new name will be on the trophy.
It was a poor penalty from Phil Foden which proved to be the difference with Said Benrahma completing five impressive Hammers penalties.
While Joao Cancelo, Gabriel Jesus, and Jack Grealish all scored from the spot, City were left to pay after that miss by Foden, a 72nd minute substitute who livened things up.
Now West Ham can dream of going all the way. And if you consider the way they are tearing into teams in the Europa League and also looking solid in the Premier League, this promises to be one hell of a season at the London Stadium.
On the day West Ham announced they were adding another 2500 seats to take the capacity to 62,500, the ground – helped with a kids for a quid offer – was a complete sell-out.
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There were 59,000 at Arsenal for the tie with Leeds on Tuesday and just under 40,000 watching Chelsea’s win over Southampton.
So although this competition is not considered that important by some, it is a Cup worth winning – as Guardiola and Jose Mourinho will testify.
The only problem is victory at Wembley now lands you a place in the Europa Conference League.
David Moyes and his team were a bit lucky to overcome Guardiola’s team.
But considering City’s trophy haul over these last few years – and they will certainly win a few more this season because the team is outstanding – there will not have been too many tears among their fans last night.
The reigning champions were the better team but their finishing was lousy throughout although home keeper Alphonse Areola made some good saves.
The atmosphere was not quite as bonkers as three days earlier when West Ham beat Spurs 1-0 but the Hammers fans certainly celebrated at the end.
Yet like that London derby game, it was an ugly, scrappy game with a fair few chances but some abysmal finishing.
And taking into the account that West Ham are also in the Europa League – they face Genk a week today – it was not a surprise David Moyes made eight changes from Sunday while only Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan survived from the 4-1 win at Brighton
John Stones has suffered a miserable season for City as this was only his second club appearance of the season and he had a relatively easy night.
Michail Antonio was given a much-deserved day off from the matchday squad although it was a reminder that without him, West Ham do not have a focal point.
City were comfortable without ever really threatening to run riot. For Raheem Sterling, it was once again a struggle for him to deliver the type of form he shows for England.
Yet teenage forward Cole Palmer, making only his third start, was confident on the ball and showed some lovely touches and good awareness.
He threaded a shot through Tomas Soucek’s leg but it was kept out by the leg of keeper Alphonse Areola while the 19-year-old saw another effort deflected for a corner off Issa Diop.
Riyad Mahrez, yet to match his form from the second half of last season, attempted a spectacular volley which went out for a throw. And Nathan Ake should have scored just before half-time but missed an easy header from Mahrez’s free-kick.
The only good thing about this opening half was that there were not any added minutes.
Mahrez, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones all wasted chances.
West Ham’s best chances fell to Tomas Soucek but he delivered two similar finishes – and both wide.
After an hour, Moyes delivered a triple substitution, throwing on Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals but it failed to make much of a change.
And much to the delight of City’s fans, Phil Foden replaced Mahrez with 18 minutes left and Guardiola’s team began to sparkle.
A shot from Foden deflected into the path of Gundogan who was required to control the ball and finish but his first touch was terrible.
Best strike of the night – although the competition was not too hot – came from Olek Zinchenko whose spectacular effort was saved by Areola.
Foden dragged a shot wide on the stroke of 90 minutes and with the final act of the game, Sterling headed straight at the West Ham keeper.
For that final period, it seemed as though Foden would be the hero. But surprisingly, it was actually the opposite.
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