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| Angelo Ogbonna's last minute winner against Liverpool in the FA Cup |
When West Ham move to the
Olympic Stadium, there will be more leg room, more comfortable seats and better
food outlets.
SunSport
report continues:
Yet
after they take their place at the expensively-rebuilt stadium in Stratford,
you will struggle to get a night like this.
Whether
this was the last ever Cup tie at Upton Park remains to be seen.
Maybe
there will be a replay at home to Blackburn. Maybe there will be a home
sixth-round tie.
This
terrific Cup tie was sealed with Angelo Ogbonna’s goal just seconds before
referee Roger East was about to blow for penalties — after Philippe Coutinho
had cancelled out Michail Antonio’s opener. And the contest will live long in
the memory for the home fans, in particular for the celebrations at the final
whistle.
The
atmosphere was terrific.
As
jubilant home fans started singing about going to Wembley, even Liverpool boss
Jurgen Klopp allowed himself a wry smile.
With
a huge number of games coming up, the German will have been encouraged by the
performance from his young team who replaced many first-choice stars. He will
have also have been relieved to see Daniel Sturridge and Christian Benteke play
together for the first time since he took over — and only the second time in
all.
Even
Reds fans will not complain too much after spending just £20 to watch this
classic scrap, in the week they protested about a proposed £77 ticket price in
their main stand.
Ultimately,
West Ham needed this win more than Liverpool.
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|
Christian
Benteke was again struggling in front of goal (News Group Newspapers Ltd)
|
Boss
Slaven Bilic, like the West Ham fans, could not hide his emotion at the end and
will fancy his chances at Paul Lambert’s inconsistent Blackburn next Sunday.
Ogbonna’s
goal, 31 seconds into stoppage time at the end of extra-time, was a belter.
On
a night when neither Benteke, Sturridge or Andy Carroll could muster a goal,
the Italian central defender showed them how to do it by heading in a stunning
free-kick from Dimitri Payet.
As
he spoke afterwards, you could see how much this meant to Bilic.
But
there is a fair way to go yet, particularly for a team whose season started way
back on July 2.
Klopp,
who decided to head south despite his appendix operation a few days earlier,
still has plenty to fight for, particularly a Capital One Cup final against
Manchester City and a Europa League tie with Augsburg.
Both
keepers were busy — and the woodwork also played a major part — until Antonio
scored a wonderful goal just before the break.
A
cross from Enner Valencia took a deflection and that was enough for the ball to
loop over Brad Smith.
The
ball was waist-high, yet Antonio displayed great technique to volley a superb
effort past keeper Simon Mignolet.
Liverpool
got the goal they probably deserved from the first half shortly into the
second.
Benteke
won a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area and Coutinho delivered a clever
free-kick across the floor which went underneath the jumping wall.
Darren
Randolph did not stand a chance in the Hammers’ goal and, understandably, was
furious with some of his players for turning their backs just before the
free-kick.
Sturridge
was warming up on the touchline before the goal and would ultimately be sent on
for Coutinho just before the hour. West Ham should have had a penalty when
Tiago Ilori clearly pulled back Valencia, but referee East was having none of
it.
The
injury-jinxed Sturridge looked lively and created some chances, although was
clearly lacking match sharpness. Benteke worked hard and forced some decent
saves from Randolph, but is lacking confidence massively.
He
should have scored in extra-time when clean through, but the West Ham keeper once
again came to the rescue.
The
Hammers were the walking wounded with Winston Reid, Cheikhou Kouyate and Joey
O’Brien all going off injured. Mignolet had one of his better nights and made
another fine save to deny Mark Noble in extra-time.
Should
it have come to penalties, you would have fancied the Belgian to be an unlikely
hero.
But Ogbonna would have the
final say. Whether it was the last Cup goal ever scored at this famous old
stadium, we will have to wait and see. But you will not get a more
spine-tingling finish than this one.
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