West Ham won a pulsating 3rd Round FA Cup replay against Everton going through 9-8 on penalties after the match finished 2-2 following extra time. Hammers keeper Adrian slotted home the winning penalty after Everton's stopper Joel Robles thudded the bar with a thunderbolt shot of his own from the spot. The Boleyn crowd went wild for two reasons. This seemed like a match that was destined to slip away against the Hammers' bogey side, and there has always been a feeling that the winners of this tie could go a long way in the competition.
This match had the lot: controversial decisions, a red card, some quality substitutions, missed opportunities, some superb saves, a goal apiece in regulation time and the same in extra time and a penalty shoot-out that shredded the nerves. What you can't begin to explain though was the sheer sickening feeling felt by Hammers' supporters who believed that this just wasn't going to be their day. West Ham took their spot-kicks second, and every time an Everton player stepped up and scored with his penalty you could hear mutterings about the next Hammers player coming up needing to equalise.
"He's going to miss it, I know it, I know it".
That wasn't how it turned out though. Apart from Stewart Downing -- who's weak penalty was easily saved by Robles at 4-4 when the midfielder could have sealed the game at 4-4 -- everyone looked determined not to let this slip and the rush of sheer joy as Adrian celebrated is something that will be long remembered by those in attendance.
One of the things in the way of a West Ham win was Romelu Lukaku, who again scored against a Hammers side he always does well against. The big Belgian celebrated by pointing skyward in commemoration of his close friend Junior Malanda, the Belgian Youth International and Wolfsburg F.C. player tragically killed in a car crash over the weekend. Despite being devastated at the loss, the Belgian wanted to play as a tribute to his friend and you sensed there was an extra bit of urgency in his approach to the game as things unfolded. Fittingly, though, it was another Belgian player, Kevin Mirallas who almost turned the game around.
Introduced as a substitute after 67 minutes with West Ham leading 1-0 following Enner Valencia's low strike, Mirallas was a revelation. He curled in the 82nd minute equaliser -- although Adrian did look to be partly at fault however well the free-kick was taken -- and then assisted on the inevitable Lukaku goal seven minutes into extra time weaving in and out of the Everton defence to find his Belgian countryman in front of goal.
At this point, it seemed all over, bar the inevitable high punts to Andy Carroll. When the superb James Collins, who just as in the first game was excellent at both ends, was substituted by Carlton Cole with just 10 minutes left, it looked a forlorn last throw of the dice. This time though Big Sam Allardyce's numbers came up as the veteran striker gloriously poked home a far-post James Tomkins header to level things up just 90 seconds later. Then Cole almost won the match with the last kick, but it skirted wide.
That would probably have been enough to get this game a five-star rating, but it ignores the considerable fact that Everton played with 10 men for over an hour after Aiden McGeady was sent off for a rash challenge on Mark Noble having being booked previously for a number of clumsy tackles that could have seen him dismissed earlier.
Also Everton had a good shout for a penalty when Miralles was clearly bought down in the box only for a free-kick on the edge of the area to be given by the referee. This was a suspicious moment that appeared to equal an earlier incident in which West Ham were also awarded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area for a handball that was inside the box. The fact that it probably wasn't an intentional handball anyway, will do little to console Everton fans.
So then it came down to penalties and attempts by the fans to convince themselves they were to witness a temporary end to the Everton hoodoo. The fact that Robles had to take the ninth penalty may have eventually impacted on the game, but noone from the home crowd cared at the end. Allardyce has at last guided his team through a 3rd Round tie and the boost to team morale could see this as important moment in the season.