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FA Cup
Burton Albion 0-1 West Ham United 

Saturday, 14th February 2026
by Chris Wilkerson | Forum match thread

If West Ham had edged past QPR in the third round, they barely scraped past a game and defiant Burton Albion in the fourth, rescued by an extra-time goal from Crysencio Summerville as a 1-0 victory was enough to take the team through to the fifth round and the last 16.

The home side had scared their Premier League visitors with a strong first half, and even an improved second half by Nuno's side couldn't force a win, until the manager turned to his stars on the bench. That extra bit of quality pushed the League One team back, and ultimately made the difference.




In a relatively boring 90 minutes of football, the game found some life in extra time, with the Summerville goal followed by a very harsh red card for substitute Freddie Potts. It breathed life into the home side and their support, who had looked dejected after the goal. They ended the game on top and looking for a dramatic late equaliser, but couldn't find a telling touch with multiple moments of chaos in the West Ham area.

In the end, the Hammers had the quality to make a difference in the moments that mattered, not that they showed much inside 90 minutes. It was a harsh defeat for The Brewers, who had outplayed their Premier League visitors comfortably in the first half and hadn't really looked like conceding in the second.

Nuno made a raft of changes, with only Mavropanos remaining from the side that had drawn with Manchester United in midweek. Wilson led the line, with Lamadrid making a debut and Traore a first start as support from the wings. Amongst the 10 changes, it was great to see starts for Mayers, Scarles and Kante as the manager moved his side into a 3-4-3 that matched the hosts.

This was the first meeting between the two clubs, and West Ham haven't lost to lower league opponents for seven years. There was a familiar face from that loss against Wimbledon, the centre back Toby Sibbick looking to cause another cupset against The Hammers.

There may be 47 places and two divisions between the two teams, but on a cold and sunny February afternoon, there was little evidence of the gap that separates them.

The Pirelli Stadium was treated to a display to keep the majority of the near 7,000 fans happy. West Ham looked like what they were, a team of 11 individuals that had never played together, competing against a team in Burton that were up for the fight. With a pitch full of bobbles and divots, the home side were quickly comfortable; the visitors looked uncomfortable and unsure of what to do.

The first chance fell for the home side, as Lofthouse drove a low ball into the box for Shade, only for the forward to scuff his chance wide of goal. Minutes later, the fans were on their feet, appealing for a penalty as Mavropanos made a poor challenge on Beesley as he went to control a cross.

It was a needless challenge, barging through the back of the striker as he took the ball on his chest. A yard inside the box, Mavropanos was maybe lucky there was no VAR to examine what looked a foul.

It had been 10 minutes and there was only one team looking ready to play, and more than 50% of the game had been played in the West Ham defensive third.

Nuno's hodgepodge team could barely find a teammate in possession, and struggled to adapt to their surroundings. The best route forward was going a bit longer and more direct, but it was a lesson they took too long to learn. It relieved pressure and took a bad pitch out of the equation, yet the away side continued to fumble possession passing through the lines.




Their best moment in half hour of football came from a Traore break, the winger doing exactly as he's advertising, picking the ball up deep and driving forward in a flash to turn defence into attack. If only Callum Wilson hadn't drifted needlessly offside when the winger passed him through. It was the best moment of their opening 30 minutes.

Their first shot only came just short of 40 minutes, a tame Wilson curler from the edge that was never threatening.

That came from a Magassa push forward, and another run from midfield from him opened up space when a fantastic Mayers pass found him on the edge of the Burton box. The midfielder went back, the ball was fed wide, and then Traore found Kante in space to shoot outside the box, only for the midfielder to blaze high and wide.

It was a fitting end to a half West Ham needed to quickly forget, both boring and nowhere near good enough to win the tie.

The manager sent the same side back out, reticent to bring any of the big guns off the bench yet. Bowen didn't even make the squad, although Nuno calmed down fears after the game by confirming it was merely a much-needed rest for the captain. He still had Castellanos and Summerville to call on, but it wasn't a bench full of stars.

The Hammers came out with a sharper focus, starting a little higher up the pitch and working harder to keep the home side pinned in. Everything was done a little quicker, which is exactly what is needed in games like this.

It was a much better second half for the away team, although still not good. Chances did come, Traore creating the first with a burst down the side of the box that gave him space to find Wilson, only for the striker to scuff his effort.

In one of the three corners that followed the effort, Mavropanos met a header well and turned it towards goal, but found the goalkeeper. The big Greek defender started to threaten on set pieces. Just after the hour, he lost his defender on another Scarles corner, but toed his volley wildly when in space to do more.

He caused chaos once more on another corner, and he probably should have earned a penalty. A bouncing ball fell to Mavropanos, and he poked a volley on goal only to see it hit a hand on its way.

It was a clear handball with the hand away from the body, and whilst close range, did block the ball on the way to goal. It was as much of a penalty as the one that could have been given against him in the first half.




The Hammers were starting to knock at the door. Wilson forced a good save after a nice bit of movement saw him lose his man and sprint into space behind the defence as a freekick was clipped over it from halfway. He struck as it dropped and his half-volley was hit well, but too centrally, and tipped over.

Potts replaced Lamadrid, ending a disappointing debut for the Venezuelan winger. It's hard to judge him on this, a disjointed performance within a disjointed team. It was not exactly a great platform for his first senior appearance in England.

Inside the last 10 minutes, Nuno threw on the cavalry. Summerville and Castellanos replaced Scarles and Traore, but they failed to make an impact before the referee blew for full time and West Ham went into extra-time once more in this year's FA Cup.

Thankfully for nervous travelling Hammers, it didn't take long for the deadlock to be broken. 5 minutes in, Summerville got the ball on the left wing, right on the touchline and his first thought was goal.

He drove in and went at the penalty area at pace, leaving one in his tracks and beating another. As he skipped away from one more, running across the edge of the box, he took aim, looking to curl it into the far corner.

His initial shot wasn't looking dangerous, but a deflection took it a little wider and a little higher, and it looped out of reach of Collins in the Burton goal and into the top corner. With that extra bit of quality on the pitch, it looked like West Ham may have found their winner.

It's now six from seven for the Dutch winger, who also has three goals and three assists from his last five FA Cup appearances. The air went out of the stadium, and a tired Burton side looked deflated.

The Hammers nearly doubled their lead, Summerville pushing off the right wing and finding Castellanos, who carried through the middle and then rolled it in front of Mayers as the left back went flying past on the overlap. He took it on well, but hit wide from an angle as he tried to find the far post.

The home side were on the ropes, but found new life after a heavy challenge from Potts was punished with a red card. The midfielder was incredibly unlucky, it was neither reckless nor dangerous, just a typical yellow card challenge.

The referee took a yellow card out instantly, but seemed to listen to protestations from the Burton Albion players, and went to look at the downed player before putting his yellow away and bringing out a red with three minutes remaining of the first period of extra time.




Hope returned to the Pirelli Stadium, on and off the pitch. Armer dragged a shot wide after it was taken down and laid off to him in the box, before the whistle was blown again for the break.

Nuno threw on Disasi and Orford for Wilson and Kante as he tried to settle things down, but the second 15 minutes was more chaotic as the hosts pushed to get back into the game.

Getting the ball into the box was key. The defending got frantic as balls were thrown in however they could be, whether it was drilled, curled, floated or literally thrown long and into the area.

There were scrambles, each looking dangerous. The biggest and best chance fell to Beesley. A cross to the far post was calmly headed down to the striker in the middle of goal, but he just couldn't get it down to control and it was poked away when six yards from goal.

Instead it was Summerville at the other end missing the best chance. The goalkeeper played into the feet of the defender, 10 yards outside the box, but played short, and the winger stole in.

He was through on goal immediately, but didn't get the curl on his effort as he tried to pass it around the goalkeeper, finding the side netting instead.

Lofthouse went close from the edge of the West Ham box, driving low to the opposite corner, and everyone bar Areola held their breath as it rolled just wide of goal, the Frenchman confident as he watched it go.

Their gilt-edged chance came in stoppage time, the 121st minute. An Adom shot from just inside the box only palmed into the middle by Areola. Chauke got their first, but his space was instantly closed down by two and his eventual shot was wide.

A last-second freekick gave the Brewers one more chance to pump the ball into the area and cause chaos. Both Atom and the goalkeeper were booked first, tension spilling over as they aggressively went after Walker-Peters, Chauke lucky not to be sent off after grabbing the full back across the face.

But the ball was cleared, and the final whistle blew. The job was done, and however uncomfortable it had been at times, all that mattered was making it through. Most of the first team had got their rest, and whilst the first half was poor, they still limited their opponents to very few chances and were the better team by the time they took the lead.

All that matters is being in the hat. It won't live long in the memory, but its job done and onto the next.




Manager's Rating

Nuno Espirito Santo: 7/10 The improvements after half-time show the manager had assessed the pitch and game well, and got his team to do more of what was needed. It could be questioned whether the extra defender was needed at the back, maybe Orford could have started instead, but the late substitutions got the job done and the manager the frantic finale quite well. All without putting more stress on a tired first-team.

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Player Ratings

Alphonse Areola
A bit better on crosses today. A couple saves where you could question where maybe he should be doing a better job at pushing the ball away from danger.


Kyle Walker-Peters
Didn't make much impact in attacking areas, which they needed in a 3-4-3.


Ollie Scarles
Just doesn't have the pace or guile in forward areas to play as a wing back.


Max Kilman
Fine in defence, but a couple moments where his passing forward should have been much better.


Konstantinos Mavropanos
Maybe could have done more with some opportunities from corners, and was lucky not to give away a very daft penalty. Defended reasonably well.


Ezra Mayers
One lovely pass from midfield got Magassa into a fantastic position, and he came very close when overlapping from left back and nearly settling the game.


Mohamadou Kante
Looked a bit lost, without the quick feet to work through a compact middle, and lacking a bit of finesse all over. Battles and works hard.


Soungoutou Magassa
Grew into the game and showed good ability to burst forward. Those runs were some of the best moments The Hammers had before Summerville's late arrival. Gives away a few too many fouls.


Keiber Lamadrid
He was very much on the outside of the game, but it's hard to be critical as his teammates, all of whom have more experience in English football, all struggled. Hard to assess.


Adama Traore
A couple moments where those rougher edges showed, where others have a bit more grace, but one burst through the middle turned defence to attack in an instant, and was arguably West Ham's best move of the first half.


Callum Wilson
Had the odd moment where his smart movement got him space, but struggled to get onto the ball or threaten too often.

Substitutes

Freddie Potts
(Lamadrid 72') Unlucky to be sent off, it wasn't quite a red card challenge, but a lesson for him as he does launch himself into tackles sometimes.


Taty Castellanos
(Scarles 83') A clear step-up in quality when he came on, he and Summerville scared the defence. Good pass for Mayers's chance.


Crysencio Summerville
(Traore 83') Exactly what was needed in the moment, he came on brimming with confidence and played like he knew he was better than anyone else on the pitch. No hesitation, just driving at players and forcing them back. Should have had a second.


Lewis Orford
(Wilson 105') Good energy, getting up well on counters and showing eagerness.


Axel Disasi
(Kante 105') Threw himself into the battle in the box as Burton threw bombs into the area.


Finlay Herrick
Did not play.


El Hadji Malick Diouf
Did not play.


Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Did not play.


Josh Ajala
Did not play.

Match Facts

West Ham United: Alphonse Areola, Kyle Walker-Peters, Ollie Scarles, Max Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Ezra Mayers, Mohamadou Kante, Soungoutou Magassa, Keiber Lamadrid, Adama Traore, Callum Wilson.

Goals: None.

Booked: None booked. 0  0  0  0  0  0.

Sent Off: None sent off. 0  0  0.

Burton Albion: Collins, Lofthouse, Godwin-Malife (c), Vancooten, Armer (Moon 107), Revan (Sibbick 32), McKiernan (Cannon 74), Evans (Chauke 74), Krubally (Larsson 83), Shade (Adom 83), Beesley.

Subs not used: Dudek, Tavares, Sraha.

Goals: .

Booked: Collins, Adom.

Sent off: None.

Referee: Lewis Smith.

Attendance: 6,514.

Man of the Match: Crysencio Summerville.