Daily Mail

ISSA KNOCKOUT

Diop breaks Dons spirit then Hammers go in for the kill

- MATT BARLOW at Kingsmeado­w

For more than an hour West Ham played a very dangerous game at a venue where a Womble patrols the perimeter of the pitch dragging a wheelie-bin behind him.

The AFC Wimbledon mascot uses the bin primarily as a musical instrument, slamming the lid as he conducts songs from the terraces.

But since these furry TV creatures are preconditi­oned econidy to tidy waste and clear ar other useless s items he could easily have carted off a load of Premier League footballer­s at half-time.

Manuel Pel - legrini’s team m went behind after er 77 seconds when en Joe Pigott headedd in from a corner andd then needed more thann an hour to level against opponents from League one who played for most of the game with 10 men.

Pellegrini was forced to scramble £33.5million Brazilian playmaker Felipe Anderson into action at half-time in his desperatio­n to avoid the ignominy of four successive defeats at the very start of his new job.

Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley, who was seething about the red card, saw his team defend valiantly until goalkeeper Tom King was beaten by a screamer lashed into the top corner from 30 yards by £22m centre half Issa Diop.

Diop struck the bar with a firm header from a corner as the West HHam poured forward in ssearch of the wiwin and Michail AnAntonio was sent on bbefore Angelo ogbonogbon­na grabbed the crucial secondse with eight minutes remaining and penalties looming at Kingsmeado­w. ogbonna tucked in a corner at the back post and Antonio released Javier Hernandez to score West Ham’s third in stoppage time and book Pellegrini’s team into the Carabao Cup third round, even if it did not ease the manager’s concerns ahead of Saturday’s game against Wolverhamp­ton Wanderers. ‘It’s not a relief,’ said Pellegrini. ‘It’s good to continue in the Carabao Cup, it’s another competitio­n, but tomorrow we start with the same pressure of needing to win our first three points in the Premier League. If we win on Saturday, the next game also will have pressure.’

Pellegrini took the calculated risk of making nine changes and gave some first-teamers a complete rest but his selection hinted at the need to win after starting his tenure in losing fashion.

The 11 who started cost a combined total of £75m but they were behind in the second minute when Pigott climbed to meet a corner taken by Mitch Pinnock and headed it powerfully past Adrian.

Pigott and James Hanson caused problems with their aerial threat from early set-pieces but Wimbledon were rocked when centre half rod McDonald was sent off with less than a quarter of the game gone.

McDonald collected two yellow cards inside five minutes. The first was for a foul on robert Snodgrass on halfway and the second for pulling Hernandez by the arm on the edge of the area.

‘For the contact that there was between the two players, absolutely,’ fumed Wimbledon boss Ardley when asked if he thought it was a dive. ‘There’s no way somebody goes down… it’s not like a yank of the arm. It’s not like a pull of the shirt where you can honestly feel you’ve been tugged back. It’s an arm on an arm and he was never getting to the ball anyway.

‘We talk about diving all the time. We make comments about stopping diving but you get nothing in the game if you don’t dive. Nowadays if you try to stay on your feet the ref won’t give you anything. So they encourage diving. It’s a bug bear of mine.

‘For me, it’s a game changer and you have to be sure when you are making a game- changing decision. I know we’ve done brilliantl­y and we’ve held out for 80 minutes or so but the game is ruined at that moment.’

Pigott was sacrificed as Ardley reinforced his back-four, aware they would need to be strong if they were to protect this lead with 10 men. His replacemen­t Will Nightingal­e was thrust into the heart of the defensive effort, making a goal line clearance to deny Yarmolenko before half-time.

Wimbledon survived until the interval when Pellegrini unleashed Anderson.

The home crowd delighted as the Brazilian was unable to control a long ball launched in his direction. They whooped as it rolled out of play but Anderson ensured West Ham upped the tempo, moved the ball more quickly across the pitch and sapped the energy of their opponents.

Diop struck in the 63rd minute and ogbonna broke Wimbledon’s spirit before Hernandez scampered clear for the third.

Belatedly, West Ham tidied up their own mess.

 ?? REX ?? Full power: Issa Diop fires in the West Ham equaliser
REX Full power: Issa Diop fires in the West Ham equaliser
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