Relief for Allardyce as Sakho steals win
IT IS not just a fourth stand they are building at Bristol City. Sadly for Steve Cotterill, though, they will have to wait a while longer to underline their progress by taking the scalp of a big team.
For large swathes of this match, it looked possible. West Ham were often desperately poor and Bristol City were frequently exciting. They attacked with pace and without fear; they created chances and did everything except take them.
Twice Matt Smith won headers within a dangerous range and twice he beat Adrian in West Ham’s goal. Twice, there was a man waiting on the line to clear. That final yard was the hurdle and curse for a club who only have three quarters of a stadium, but dream big and sit second in League One.
‘All we needed was that final touch,’ said Cotterill.
For Sam Allardyce (below), there can only be relief that Diafra Sakho was fit after three weeks out and able to come off his bench to head an 81st-minute winner. Certainly any pride will need to be balanced against what was a weak performance, particularly from his midfielders.
But into the draw they go and that, for this club more than some, is important. Allardyce knows his side have an opportunity in this competition in light of Saturday’s magnificent upsets — not to mention the freedom afforded by West Ham’s good league position — and it formed the gist of his team talk.
Allardyce said: ‘I said to the players, “Don’t be a victim. Don’t be another casualty. Be professional in what you do and if they are to beat you they have to produce something special”. It was a hard-earned victory and one we are grateful for.
‘A team in the lower divisions can, in one day, beat the most forceful team in the Premier League. Chelsea conceded four at home to Bradford. Big teams can always get knocked out. Gladly we are one of the bigger teams not crying all the way home. ‘Now it will all depend on the draw. I know it’s said that somewhere along the line you are going to get a Premier League team. But I hope we get them when we’re in the final and not before.’
Cotterill, meanwhile, tried to strike a philosophical tone but knows a big opportunity was missed. ‘We won’t be slitting our wrists because we got beat 1-0 by West Ham,’ he said. ‘It’s just a slight disappointment because with a bit of luck we might have knocked them out.
‘I think the results on Saturday made it more difficult for us. I am not saying West Ham wouldn’t have been focused but if they weren’t then those results would have made them more focused. They picked a good, strong, experienced team.’
Indeed, Allardyce made only one change to the side that crushed Hull in the Premier League last weekend, with Winston Reid stepping in for James Collins, who has a back problem.
It was about as strong a side as West Ham could field; it was a side that spent all but the final 10 minutes of the first half struggling to draw breath.
With an extra man in the middle, City were winning the battle for midfield and in Luke Freeman, once of Arsenal but more recently Stevenage, they had a man who was able to take control. In Alex Song, West Ham had a top- class midfielder on loan from Barcelona who seemingly could not pass to a team-mate. Combined, it meant City were on top for most of the half, happy to counter or dictate.
The first warning was sounded after six minutes when Smith’s header beat Adrian and was cleared by Mark Noble.
Smith then sent a second header past the keeper, only to be brilliantly cleared by Andy Carroll. West Ham looked in desperate trouble. In one challenge, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas floored Winston Reid — the cliches about lower league sides making life uncomfortable for the big boys were also acted out.
Allardyce responded by replacing Song and Enner Valencia with Morgan Amalfitano and Sakho shortly after the restart and West Ham gradually held more possession. But even then there was no evidence that one side are almost two divisions to the north of the other, Smith underlining the point by heading over.
But then Sakho took hold of this game. In the space of two minutes he was blocked by Aden Flint and also grazed the bar after showing some delightful skill on his way to goal. When Carroll hooked over a cross 10 minutes from time Sakho jumped up and won the game, even if Smith was given the opportunity to miss yet another header.
‘We were never at our very best but we did enough to get through to the next round,’ Allardyce said.
In the context of a remarkable weekend, that will have to do.