West Ham hit eight as rookie Diangana seizes his chance
and his impact after stepping off the substitutes’ bench will only add to the pressure on the club to reach a satisfactory agreement with the 19-year-old.
Snodgrass then added a second three minutes later and his first goal since joining in January 2017 owed much to Diangana.
The winger fired in an angled shot that O’hara could only push towards his own goal and the Macclesfield defence made a mess of trying to clear the ball, allowing Snodgrass to bundle it over the line from close range.
Another first came when striker Perez opened his West Ham account with a volley from Aaron Creswell’s cross five minutes before the break.
The home side quickly extended their lead in the second half as Ryan Fredericks drove the ball past the utterly helpless O’hara and Angelo
Ogbonna headed a Snodgrass corner into the net.
Fredericks turned provider for Snodgrass to net his second of the night on the hour. But the biggest cheers were reserved for Diangana, who joined West Ham as a 10-yearold. He skipped his way in from the right and finished coolly past O’hara for both of his goals.
When it was put to Pellegrini that West Ham supporters like nothing better than to see a young player progress up the ranks and a cup run, he replied: “So do I. I like to see young players and I also like to win games.”
Manuel Pellegrini’s love affair with the Carabao Cup shows no sign of letting up as his West Ham United side dished out a third-round thrashing to the Football League’s bottom club Macclesfield Town.
Grady Diangana enjoyed a debut to remember by netting the final two goals of his club’s biggest victory for 35 years. The 20-yearold academy product has benefited from Pellegrini’s decision to move
West Ham’s Under-23s from the old Chadwell Heath training ground to the first-team’s Rush Heath base.
“One of the things I asked the club was to work with the Under-23 players in the same training ground,” said Pellegrini. “Last month we started doing that and it is easier to see their performances.
“He [Diangana] must improve a lot if he wants to be a top player, but he is working hard. If he keeps this attitude he will improve a lot.
“I was pleased for him because the only thing I demand from young players when they have the opportunity is to take the opportunity. He did very well, not only for the two goals.”
The League Cup was the first and the last trophy Pellegrini lifted in
English football with Manchester City and he is clearly taking the event seriously again at West Ham. Although Pellegrini made eight changes from the side that drew with Chelsea, the manager sent out a strong line-up that included summer signing Lucas Perez, Robert Snodgrass and Michail Antonio.
The trio were all on target during a first half in which the Hammers effectively secured their progress to the fourth round.
But it was only after Adrian had made a brilliant save to deny Harry Smith and Carlos Sanchez had limped off to be replaced by Declan Rice that West Ham broke the deadlock.
It was Rice who produced an accurate cross to find Antonio, who easily beat Macclesfield goalkeeper Kieran O’hara with his head from close range just before the halfhour mark.
Rice is currently involved in a contract stand-off with West Ham