Andy caps happy Hammers return
WEST HAM manager Manuel Pellegrini hailed comeback pair Samir Nasri and Andy Carroll after grabbing a place in the fourth-round.
Former Manchester City and Arsenal midfielder Nasri was making his Hammers debut in his first game since an 18-month doping ban.
And Carroll, who clinched the tie with a stoppage-time second goal after Marko Arnautovic’s early opener, was back on the scoresheet for the first time since April.
Arnautovic was angry at being hauled off after just 20 minutes with a back problem but Pellegrini tried to deflect from that. “There were a lot of positives,’’ he said. ‘‘One was that Samir Nasri played after a long time without playing an official game. I was never in any doubt that he could play again at this level.
“But also we won the game, through to the next round, clean sheet, good displays from young players Xande Silva and Grady Diangana, and Andy Carroll scored.
‘‘It is good for Andy and I believe he will soon be back to the player that we all know.’’
Birmingham had their chances, the best fell to Maikel Kieftenbeld, who fired just wide. Boss Garry Monk, hampered by a threadbare squad, was upbeat despite the loss.
He said: “The players will take a lot out of that. That was the 18 fit players we had out there, our first defeat over the holidays. But we lacked that cutting edge at the crucial moment.”
West Ham 2 Birmingham 0 Hector Nunns