Fan blogger Joe Difford analyses Saturday's FA Cup victory over Wolves
Fan blogger Joe Difford analyses Saturday's FA Cup victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers...
An FA Cup over a Champions League spot said Slaven Bilic leading up to the clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers, exactly what fans have been thinking for years.
The Hammers have endured what can only be described as a series of car crashes when it comes to cup competitions, with a few humiliating score lines to match.
Saturday afternoon's tie at the Boleyn Ground wasn't exactly pretty, and at points it wasn't even entertaining, but we got the all important win and our name is in the hat for the next round; that's all that matters.
The game started as expected, with the visitors fired up and giving it their all, firing crosses in early on, but Darren Randolph was never really threatened in the West Ham goal. Once the impressive Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang got more of the possession, we settled and started what was essentially attack vs defence for the remaining 75 minutes.
The Wolves men defended well, but that is all they really did, putting ten men behind the ball and limiting our chances to long-ranged efforts that were blocked more often than not.
Carl Jenkinson was seeing a great deal of the ball out on the right hand side, but he struggled to get a threatening ball into the box, but even if he had, it would have been tough to pick out a claret and blue shirt from the sea of Old Gold. He did, however, have the best effort of the half, seeing his shot tipped over from distance.
There was almost a collective sigh of relief when the referee blew the whistle for half time and chants of 'We've got Payet' rang out, suggesting that the fans knew exactly what could save this game. Bilic felt the same, and brought on the French magician shortly after the break, and that's where we stepped up and really pressed Wolves deep into their penalty area.
Payet's mix of trickery and direct passing on the floor helped the previously quiet Nikica Jelavic to get more involved, and the introduction of Andy Carroll helped too, with the No9 getting himself right in the thick of it and impressing.
Half of the stadium thought Payet had opened the scoring with a neat free kick, as the net ruffled, but it was a cruel illusion and had narrowly gone over.
The prospect of a replay seemed more and more likely as Wolves stood resolutely, heading or clearing away every ball whipped in, until Carroll and Jelavic combined to save a trip to the Midlands.
It was the only real chance in the opposition penalty area, when Carroll flicked the ball over his head and onto Jelavic, who smashed home into the far corner, opening his account for the Hammers.
It may not have been the most impressive victory, but ultimately we were by far the better side, and credit has to be given to Kenny Jackett's defence, who didn't give up until the 85th minute.
With no threat of relegation yet again, Slaven Bilic can give the FA Cup his all, and hopefully give fans a few more magical nights, before we can perhaps dream about some silverware in our last season at the Boleyn Ground.
For more West Ham fan views or to join the conversation visit www.90min.com
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United
An FA Cup over a Champions League spot said Slaven Bilic leading up to the clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers, exactly what fans have been thinking for years.
The Hammers have endured what can only be described as a series of car crashes when it comes to cup competitions, with a few humiliating score lines to match.
Saturday afternoon's tie at the Boleyn Ground wasn't exactly pretty, and at points it wasn't even entertaining, but we got the all important win and our name is in the hat for the next round; that's all that matters.
The game started as expected, with the visitors fired up and giving it their all, firing crosses in early on, but Darren Randolph was never really threatened in the West Ham goal. Once the impressive Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang got more of the possession, we settled and started what was essentially attack vs defence for the remaining 75 minutes.
The Wolves men defended well, but that is all they really did, putting ten men behind the ball and limiting our chances to long-ranged efforts that were blocked more often than not.
Carl Jenkinson was seeing a great deal of the ball out on the right hand side, but he struggled to get a threatening ball into the box, but even if he had, it would have been tough to pick out a claret and blue shirt from the sea of Old Gold. He did, however, have the best effort of the half, seeing his shot tipped over from distance.
There was almost a collective sigh of relief when the referee blew the whistle for half time and chants of 'We've got Payet' rang out, suggesting that the fans knew exactly what could save this game. Bilic felt the same, and brought on the French magician shortly after the break, and that's where we stepped up and really pressed Wolves deep into their penalty area.
Payet's mix of trickery and direct passing on the floor helped the previously quiet Nikica Jelavic to get more involved, and the introduction of Andy Carroll helped too, with the No9 getting himself right in the thick of it and impressing.
Half of the stadium thought Payet had opened the scoring with a neat free kick, as the net ruffled, but it was a cruel illusion and had narrowly gone over.
The prospect of a replay seemed more and more likely as Wolves stood resolutely, heading or clearing away every ball whipped in, until Carroll and Jelavic combined to save a trip to the Midlands.
It was the only real chance in the opposition penalty area, when Carroll flicked the ball over his head and onto Jelavic, who smashed home into the far corner, opening his account for the Hammers.
It may not have been the most impressive victory, but ultimately we were by far the better side, and credit has to be given to Kenny Jackett's defence, who didn't give up until the 85th minute.
With no threat of relegation yet again, Slaven Bilic can give the FA Cup his all, and hopefully give fans a few more magical nights, before we can perhaps dream about some silverware in our last season at the Boleyn Ground.
For more West Ham fan views or to join the conversation visit www.90min.com
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United