ANGEL DUST
Ogbonna’s dramatic winner seals the Hammers fightback
SLAVEN BILIC was handed a lifeline as West Ham staged a stunning comeback at Wembley to reach the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
The Hammers gaffer has been under fire after a run of poor results but his side’s battle back from two down has eased some of the pressure.
It looked like another horror night for the Irons when strikes from Moussa Sissoko and Dele Alli had Spurs clear at the break.
But West Ham were totally transformed after the restart as Andre Ayew scored twice in five minutes before Angelo Ogbonna headed in a ridiculous winner.
Goalkeeper Adrian raced the length of the Wembley pitch to join the joyous celebrations.
The stunning defeat was Spurs’ first since August and ended an 11-game unbeaten run for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Relieved Bilic said: “The mood was down at half-time but not that down as against Brighton. That result was bad but we played good football.
“We reacted in the most brilliant way. To score three goals against them, who do not concede goals, then be brave and compact and good on the ball, we deserved it and it is a big boost for us.
“Goals are always key, they give the whole team energy. We didn’t want to concede the third and then score ourselves. We did that and had more confidence, it gave us rhythm and they got out of rhythm. It was a really good team performance.”
Only Cheikhou Kouyate and Manuel Lanzini were retained from the West Ham side who were humbled by Brighton last Friday while Spurs made seven changes, Danny Rose handed a first start since January with young stopper Juan Foyth also in. But Pochettino’s team still netted early against another generous defence. The rested Harry Kane needed four minutes on Sunday but last night Sissoko swept home two minutes later after Heung-Min Son sent him clear following Fernando Llorente’s neat flick. Adrian pulled off a fine save from Alli’s far-post header after a Kieran Trippier cross. But the second goal was not long coming as Alli combined with Son before seeing his shot flick off the head of Declan Rice and past the Spanish keeper. It looks as though playing at Wembley suited the Hammers little better than their own London Stadium at the other end of the Jubilee Line and a number of their 5000 fans were gone by the start of the second half.
The Premier League fixture last month saw both sides charged with failing to control their players and West Ham finally put up some fight after the break, with the visitors pulling one back in 55 minutes.
Mark Noble’s corner was headed out to Edimilson Fernandes and his low shot could only be parried by Michel Vorm and Ayew tapped home.
Unbelievably, the Hammers were level four minutes later. Andy Carroll won a header in the box and Lanzini crossed for Ayew to again.
Alli drew a save from Adrian before Ogbonna completed a stunning comeback with a towering header from Manuel Lanzini’s corner.
Spurs gaffer Pochettino said: “We scored twice and it looked like the game was over. Maybe we thought the job was done. It’s difficult to accept.”
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