FA Cup
Bristol City 1-0 West Ham United 

Tuesday, 16th January 2024
by James Haley

West Ham are out of the FA Cup after falling at the first hurdle against Championship side Bristol City.

The game's first notable passage of play occured in the third minute, but Maxwel Cornet's pass to an unmarked Danny Ings was overhit and City 'keeper Max O'Leary came out quickly to claim.


Embed from Getty Images


His clearance found Konstantinos Mavropanos, who attempted to pass back to Lukasz Fabianski - but Tommy Conway intercepted and calmly finished into an empty net.

Bristol attempted to build on this momentum with a shot on the edge of the box from Anis Mehmeti, but his effort flew over the bar.

The Hammers tried to drag themselves back into the game as Said Benrahma set up Ings who dribbled past two and rocketed a shot wide of the post. Then came a James Ward-Prowse free kick which created a chance for Mavropanos, but the Greek didn't get anywhere near it despite being favourite to do so.

Emerson had a shot from the edge of the box which deflected to Tomas Soucek. The Czech midfielder's scuffed centre found Cornet, whose attempted scissor kick failed to find the target.

Danny Ings once again failed to score from an Emerson delivery, as he found himself in space in the box but scuffed the shot wide. Then it was Mavropanos who failed to make the most of a golden opportunity as O'Leary dropped the ball in the box, but the Greek defender couldn't turn it over the line.

The Robins had a few opportunities to score towards the end of the first half, most notably when Cameron Pring stole a march on Vladimir Coufal but saw his header deflected out for a corner. The resulting set-piece found Mehmeti on the edge of the box, whose low shot was saved by Fabianski.


Embed from Getty Images


The second half began in fiery fashion as Joe Williams performed a heavy tackle on Benrahma. The winger, who was incensed kicked out - and was sent off by referee Darren England.

Minutes after that incident Taylor Gardner-Hickman became involved in a scuffle with Aaron Cresswell, which included a swing of the arm from the Bristol player - but with no repercussions for Gardner-Hickman - while Cresswell received a yellow card.

The 10-men Hammers tried to take the game to extra time as Cornet crossed to Ings, but his shot was saved by the 'keeper.

Bristol attempted to secure the victory as Gardner-Hickman slipped Nahki Wells in behind West Ham's defence, but Fabianski stayed strong to turn away the effort. Wells had a further chance to score as he cut inside and bent an effort over towards the top left corner, but it didn't quite find the net.

The Hammers huffed and puffed all the way to the end but they couldn't break through the Bristol defence, and it was the Championship side who progressed through to the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Want to submit your match reports to KUMB.com? More details here ...

 Click to view all West Ham United vs Bristol City match reports

 Click to view all match reports by James Haley

Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.



Player Ratings

Lukasz Fabianski
Mistake at the very start of the game as he wasn't quick enough to get to the back pass.


Vladimir Coufal
Link-up play with Maxwel Cornet down the right hand side was ineffective and when he did get the chance to cross, the delivery was poor.


Emerson Palmieri
The best player on the pitch by miles, was drifting into the middle of the pitch to try and be creative.


Konstantinos Mavropanos
Gave away the only goal and misplaced a lot of his passes in the game. Probably his worst performance for the club so far.


Kurt Zouma
Outpaced too often by Championship opposition and no vision for his aimless passing.


Aaron Cresswell
Didn't have much to do and only impact he had on the game was nearly getting a player sent off.


Tomas Soucek
Anonymous in the game and his only use was to win headers from goal kicks which he barely did.


James Ward-Prowse
No one around him to pass to which resulted in him frequently losing the ball.


Said Benrahma
Should be his last game for West Ham. Slowing the attack down, refusing to put crosses in - and then sent off for petulance.


Maxwel Cornet
Tried his best but there wasn't much service for him to latch on to.


Danny Ings
Once again there was little to no service to the striker, but still did alright when he got the ball apart from a scuffed shot in the box.



Substitutes

Ben Johnson
(Replaced Coufal 66) An improvement on Coufal when he came on, but still not enough to earn a new contract.


Callum Marshall
(Replaced Cresswell 80) Looked lively when he came on and won the ball back a few times, even when his experienced team mates played him hospital passes.


Divin Mubama
(Replaced Ings 81) Poor performance from him which is not fault of his own because he has no service and no time to get in a scoring position.


Alphonse Areola
Did not play.


Joseph Anang
Did not play.


Angelo Ogbonna
Did not play.


Ollie Scarles
Did not play.


Kaelan Casey
n/a


n/a
n/a



Match Facts

West Ham United: Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal, Emerson Palmieri, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell, Tomas Soucek, James Ward-Prowse, Said Benrahma, Maxwel Cornet, Danny Ings.

Goals: None.

Booked: Aaron Cresswell 0          .

Sent Off: Said Benrahma 51    .

Bristol City: O’Leary, Tanner, Vyner, Dickie, McCrorie (Bell 61), Williams, James, Pring, Gardner-Hickman (Knight 75), Mehmeti (Cornick 75), Conway (Wells 61).

Subs not used: Bajic, Knight-Lebel, Roberts, Nelson, King.

Goals: Conway (3).

Booked: Williams, Gardner-Hickman.

Sent off: None.

Referee: Darren England.

Attendance: 25,616.

Man of the Match: Emerson Palmieri.