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Cape Town - West Ham’s FA Cup third round tie against Everton went all the way to penalties after finishing 2-2 on the night where the Hammers eventually got through, but only after giving manager Sam Allardyce his most thrilling match in recent memory.
The initial round three tie at Goodison Park ended 1-1 when a late Romelu Lukaku equaliser forced a replay, frustrating Allardyce who said that Lukaku scores "every time he plays against us". He was proven right again this week when the Belgian struck again at Upton Park to give the Toffees the lead.
But this time it was Allardyce who had the last say when late substitute Carlton Cole put the tie level again. It ended that way and went to penalties, which West Ham won thanks to Adrian, when the goalkeeper saved Steven Naismith’s effort before scoring the decisive penalty to give the London side a 9-8 shoot-out victory.
After being left frustrated a week ago, Allardyce finally saw his team through to the next round and believed they deserved to progress after the dramatic two-legged battle.
"It was unbelievable," Football411 quotes Allardyce as saying. "It has been a long time since I experienced such highs and lows in one match. Such excitement. It was end to end from the first whistle, nothing like a Premier League game.
"Unfortunately we missed too many chances, their goalkeeper made some fantastic saves. We had 23, 24 attempts. We missed and fluffed a few and had to rely on penalties in the end to win it.
"Both teams went out and played and tried to win it. In the end we got what we deserved, there is no doubt about that."
After struggling to beat The Toffees, Allardyce was grateful to his penalty hero after the Spanish stopper finally secured victory against Roberto Martinez’s side.
"Everton have been a bit of a bogey team for us and when Stewart Downing missed it I thought, 'here we go again'," he said. "But Adrian saved one brilliantly and took the last one. He was calm, he was determined and it was a victory we deserved over the two legs."
The Hammers will now face Bristol Rovers in the fourth round next week, after a Premier League visit from relegation-threatened Hull City on Sunday.
The initial round three tie at Goodison Park ended 1-1 when a late Romelu Lukaku equaliser forced a replay, frustrating Allardyce who said that Lukaku scores "every time he plays against us". He was proven right again this week when the Belgian struck again at Upton Park to give the Toffees the lead.
But this time it was Allardyce who had the last say when late substitute Carlton Cole put the tie level again. It ended that way and went to penalties, which West Ham won thanks to Adrian, when the goalkeeper saved Steven Naismith’s effort before scoring the decisive penalty to give the London side a 9-8 shoot-out victory.
After being left frustrated a week ago, Allardyce finally saw his team through to the next round and believed they deserved to progress after the dramatic two-legged battle.
"It was unbelievable," Football411 quotes Allardyce as saying. "It has been a long time since I experienced such highs and lows in one match. Such excitement. It was end to end from the first whistle, nothing like a Premier League game.
"Unfortunately we missed too many chances, their goalkeeper made some fantastic saves. We had 23, 24 attempts. We missed and fluffed a few and had to rely on penalties in the end to win it.
"Both teams went out and played and tried to win it. In the end we got what we deserved, there is no doubt about that."
After struggling to beat The Toffees, Allardyce was grateful to his penalty hero after the Spanish stopper finally secured victory against Roberto Martinez’s side.
"Everton have been a bit of a bogey team for us and when Stewart Downing missed it I thought, 'here we go again'," he said. "But Adrian saved one brilliantly and took the last one. He was calm, he was determined and it was a victory we deserved over the two legs."
The Hammers will now face Bristol Rovers in the fourth round next week, after a Premier League visit from relegation-threatened Hull City on Sunday.
