PELLEGRINI’S GRADY BUNCH SMASH EIGHT
‘It’s not the result we were looking for’ Macclesfield boss Mark Yates with the under statement of the night
The last time West ham won 8-0 was against Sunderland in October 1968, when a certain Sir Geoff hurst helped himself to six goals at the Boleyn Ground.
Last night against Football League basement boys Macclesfield, it was academy kid Grady Diangana who stole the show, scoring the seventh and eighth goals in this Carabao Cup trouncing.
As far as debuts go, this was one to remember from the 20-year-old attacker.
This rout also saw Robert Snodgrass grab his first goals for the hammers, while Lucas Perez, Michail Antonio, Ryan Fredericks and Angelo Ogbonna got in on the act, too.
This competition was the first and last that Manuel Pellegrini won with Manchester City. his priority is the Premier League, although he sees the Carabao Cup as a chance for silverware.
Pellegrini’s players ran rings around Macclesfield, who sit bottom of League Two. As the away supporters, who made a seven-hour round trip to be in Stratford, sang: ‘You’re nothing special, we lose every week.’ Sometimes, if you don’t laugh, you cry.
‘The only thing I demand from young players when they have the opportunity is that they take it,’ said Pellegrini about Diangana.
‘he did very well, not only for the two goals. I’ve seen him working on the training ground every day of the week — that’s why he played.
‘We must make the difference between a team that plays in the Premier League and a team that plays in League Two.
‘You don’t always do it, because a lot of the time you can underestimate the rival and think you are going to walk it. The players understood.’
West ham held the joint record for the biggest win in this competition Bury in 1983. — For a 10-0 Macclesfield’s victory over sake, it was a good job Pellegrini rested a few of his familiar faces. The hammers got the rout going in the 29th minute when a cross by Declan Rice, on for Carlos Sanchez, was headed in by Antonio. For their second, Diangana forced a save out of Kieran O’hara and, amid a melee, Snodgrass scored a tap-in. It was 3-0 when Perez volleyed the ball beyond O’hara, then four after Fredericks emphatically found the far corner from a tight angle.
Ogbonna headed in to make it five and Snodgrass scored his second after a passing move. Moments later Diangana drifted through Macclesfield’s back line and scored, before grabbing another to make it 8-0. Macclesfield boss Mark Yates said: ‘It’s not the result we were looking for.’