Wednesday, August 29

Diop's drive helps see off the Dons

Wimbledon 1 West Ham 3 (Carabao Cup)

West Ham's season seemed to getting even worse when Pigott powered a header past Adrian after 75 seconds. The Hammers were helped by the fact that Wimbledon's McDonald was sent off after 18 minutes, though they still struggled to break down a determined home side. 

We have Mystic Matt to thank for the equaliser after 63 minutes, reports Lisa. Just as Matt declared, "don't give it to Diop, he's just going to smash it over!" the centre back fired home a great low drive. A fine response from Diop to his own goal at Arsenal, and the giant centre back was unlucky to hit the bar a few minutes later. The Hammers won it with Ogbonna's simple finish from a Snoddy corner and then Hernandez rounded the keeper in added time to make it 3-1.

It was encouraging to see Pellegrini take the Carabao Cup seriously. He didn't hesitate in bringing on Anderson at half-time when it looked like we might be going out. The game also showed how strong the West Ham squad is, with the B line-up full of established players. Good to see Yarmolenko and Perez complete near-full games. It was a struggle, but a welcome win and another chance for the new squad to get used to playing together. While the prospect of a Cup Final breakfast round at Nigel's house in Kew remains on.

2 comments:

matt said...

That is technically true, tho it should also be noted that Lisa suggested taking Oggy off "as he's not done anything" just before he scored the winner. This was a strange game. Not sure the gaffer is anywhere near knowing his best team, and we really need a win on Saturday.

Pete May said...

Ok, we'll give Mystic Lisa the credit for Oggy then. Yes, we almost have too many players now. We played three defenders with virtually no PL experience against Arsenal. Just who is best out of Diop, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Rice (and possibly Cresswell in a five-man defence)? Or Zabaleta and Fredericks? Or Cresswwell and Masuaku? Should Hernandez start games? Guess it will take time for a best X1 to emerge.