West Ham suffered penalty heartbreak as they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Blackburn Rovers.
First Half
West Ham were punished for starting slow inside six minutes when Tayo Edun played through Jack Vale, and the Rovers striker calmly finished to give the visitors the surprise lead.
The Hammers equalised seven minutes from half time when a Michail Antonio cross bounced off a Rovers defender to the feet of Pablo Fornals, and the Spaniard struck to ball into the bottom left corner for his fourth goal of the season in all competitions.
Second Half
The second half was much of the same story for West Ham, with Antonio’s header hitting the post and then being denied by Rovers’ keeper Aynsley Pears from close range.
However, the Hammers forward eventually got his goal, with his low strike finding the back of the net in the 78th minute.
It looked like this would secure West Ham’s place in the last 16, until two minutes from time Blackburn substitute Ben Brereton Diaz dribbled past two West Ham defenders then hit the ball into the top right corner to take the game to penalties.
Straight Penalties
Both teams went perfect for a combined 19 penalties, with neither Aréola nor Pears coming close to saving one. But just before the keepers would be forced to take spot kicks themselves, Angelo Ogbonna’s penalty hit the crossbar, eliminating the Hammers at the first attempt.
West Ham Being Out of Form Now Compared to Last Year
It was just over a year ago in this competition that West Ham won a famous penalty shootout against Manchester City, becoming the first side to beat City in the Carabao Cup since 2016. At the time West Ham were fourth in the Premier League, won their first three games in the Europa League and were in the middle of a run that included wins against Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool.
Fast forward to now, and West Ham are involved in another penalty shootout in the Carabao Cup. This time the Hammers sit 15th in the table a last-minute home defeat to Crystal Palace.
West Ham, who haven’t won a domestic trophy in 42 years, will feel this was a golden opportunity to advance to the next round. Blackburn made 11 changes for this game, clearly with one eye on their big match against Championship leaders Burnley on Saturday.
Instead, Rovers fought hard to take the game to penalties, and eventually luck favoured the Championship side with Ogbonna’s miss sending them into the fourth round and the Hammers with one less competition to end their trophy drought.
Moyes Feels Very Downhearted from The Defeat
As reported by football.london, West Ham assistant manager Mark Warburton said David Moyes “feels it [the loss] more than anyone”.
“The team were prepared, good names out tonight… There is no one more disappointed than the players tonight.”
What’s Next For The Hammers?
West Ham will look to end this period before the World Cup on a high as a play Leicester at home this Saturday.
Edited By: Joshua Owoaje
