Bristol City stunned West Ham in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup on Sunday night, adding to the already sizeable list of giant killings in this year's competition.
Last Sunday Bristol City travelled to the London Stadium to face West Ham in the FA Cup third round.
After 57% possession from West Ham in their original meeting at The London Stadium, it still wasn’t enough to get over the line against The Robins. England Star, Jarrod Bowen, managed to take his side into an early lead, in the first five minutes into the match.
However, it wasn’t enough for the irons to proceed into the fourth round, as Bristol City striker, Tommy Conway, managed to secure an equaliser for his side, earning Bristol City a replay at Ashton Gate
There has been plenty of criticism from Premier League manager of the concept of FA Cup replays, with tight schedules and Winter Breaks being disrupted by the extra midweek matches.
Despite the fact that West Ham were the team to take an early lead in the first match, it was none other than Tommy Conway, who scored again for The Robins, giving the Championship side an early lead.
An awful back pass from Konstantinos Mavropanos allowed Tommy Conway to go past Fabiański, and slot it home for Bristol City.
The game took a turn for the worse for the Irons, as Said Benrahma saw red after kicking out against Joe Williams, after being brought down by the player moments before.
The Irons didn’t manage to pull one back and although they had five shots on target, they didn’t manage to put one away. Even though they had a higher expected goals rating, they still left Ashton Gate goalless, sending them home.
On top of that, Benrahma will now face a three match suspension, keeping him out of Premier League games against Sheffield United, Bournemouth and, perhaps most crucially, Manchester United.
David Moyes didn't put out his strongest side with a Premier League trip to Sheffield United at the weekend in mind. Even before the original tie at the London Stadium Moyes had been critical of replays altogether.
But this one has gone just about as badly as it could've for the Hammers. With Antonio not yet fully fit, Lucas Paqueta injured and Mohamed Kudus in the Ivory Coast representing Ghana at Afcon, attacking options are worryingly thin for West Ham. This was before Benrahma got himself a three-match ban.
The Hammers now face an uphill battle to get their season back on track. Fantastic victories over Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham in December have given them a real chance to secure a top six finish, so an early FA Cup exit could be a blessing in disguise.
If they are to make the most of it though, the Hammers will need to rely on David Moyes' vast coaching experience to get through what will be a tricky January & February.
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