West Ham beat Brentford 5-3 on penalties to set up a Quarter-Final tie against Leeds United, after a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium.
Dango Ouattara’s tame penalty proved costly for Brentford as he was the only player to not convert their penalty in the shootout, which was settled by Konstantinos Mavropanos as West Ham converted all five of their penalties.
Jarrod Bowen opened the scoring for West Ham with a 19th-minute close-range finish, only for Igor Thiago to chest the ball in off Nathan Collins’ header from Ouattara’s cross nine minutes later.
Bowen restored the Hammers’ lead with a 34th-minute penalty after Adama Traore had been fouled by Michael Kayode.
Brentford however were able to force extra time through a 81st-minute penalty equaliser from Thiago, following an elbow from Crysencio Summerville upon Kayode.
West Ham will now host Leeds United at the London Stadium in the Quarter-Finals on weekend of 4-5 April.
Despite having found themselves in a scrap for Premier League survival, West Ham took this tie seriously with a strong line-up and made a fast start as Bowen saw a second-minute shot blocked.
Brentford however are enjoying a strong campaign and almost took a sixth-minute lead but Jordan Henderson fired wide, before Kayode saw a shot saved by Alphonse Areola just five minutes later.
West Ham however soon broke the deadlock as a 19th-minute corner wasn’t cleared, and Matheus Fernandes whipped a cross into the box, which Soucek nodded down for Bowen to poke into the right corner.
Brentford however capitalised on a 28th-minute marking slip from Oliver Scarles as Ouattara found space to curl in a cross which Collins nodded in, although the goal was later accredited to Thiago after he had got the last touch to chest in off the Irish defender’s header.
Keith Andrews’ Bees quickly saw their relief at the equaliser turn to despair as Kayode clipped Traore when through on goal, which led referee – Andy Madley to dismiss the Spaniard’s protests until Video-Assistant Referee overturned his decision.
Bowen subsequently dispatched the penalty into the bottom-left corner for his second goal which restored the Hammers’ lead.
Brentford however had their own penalty appeals snubbed in the 39th minute after Ouattara’s cutback pass was met by Kevin Schade, only for Fernandes to sweep in recklessly to send him tumbling to the ground but Madley insisted that Fernandes had first touch on the ball.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s Hammers subsequently survived late waves of Brentford pressure as they maintained their narrow lead into half time, which saw Traore substituted for Crysencio Summerville whilst Ezra Mayers replaced Oliver Scarles who had struggled to deal with Ouattara.
That change almost saw West Ham pull a two-goal lead in the 56th minute after Summerville found space to unleash a shot, which Kayode deflected behind much to the Bees’ relief.
West Ham’s improved intensity continue to trouble Brentford as Summerville played a 65th-minute cutback pass towards Tomas Soucek, yet the Czech midfielder’s shot was blocked.
Caoimhin Kelleher meanwhile denied Bowen a hat-trick as he punched behind the latter’s 78th-minute shot at his near-right post, before he then punched away the subsequent corner.
Brentford in response unleashed a quick attack two minutes later which culminated in an elbow on Kayode from Summerville inside the box, and Madley immediately gave Brentford a penalty which Thiago dispatched down the middle to restore parity.
Keane Lewis-Potter missed a chance to complete Brentford’s comeback in the 84th minute as he fired wide across the face of goal, having tried to tee up Thiago inside the box to sweep into the net as the tie eventually went to extra time.
The first half of extra time petered out until Brentford substitute, Romelle Donovan smashed a shot from Schade’s pass over the bar.
West Ham subsequently tried to punish that wasted chance immediately after the extra-time break but their own substitute, Callum Wilson saw a shot punched behind by Kelleher at his near-left post.
Valentin Castellanos then demanded a 111th-minute penalty after his shot struck Lewis-Potter’s left arm but referee, Madley snubbed his complaint as he adjudged Lewis-Potter’s arm as having been in a natural position with no malice.
Castellanos then curled a 117th-minute shot over the bar but Brentford dug in to force penalties after two additional injury-time minutes, in which Axel Disasi smashed a long-range shot over the top-left corner from circa 30 yards.
Bowen and Castellanos dispatched West Ham’s first two penalties whilst Thiago fired Brentford’s first spot-kick down the middle, before Ouattara tamely struck his penalty straight into Areola’s arms.
Wilson and Soucek kept West Ham in front amidst Lewis-Potter and Mathias Jensen’s conversions of Brentford’s third and fourth penalties.
Mavropanos was the Hammers’ fifth man to step up and the defender calmly smashed his penalty into the top-right corner to seal their passage into the Quarter-Finals.
What’s Next?
West Ham resume their fight for Premier League survival at home to Manchester City on Saturday 14 March at 8pm GMT.
Brentford meanwhile have a full week to prepare for their next match as they host Wolves on Monday 16 March at the Gtech Community Stadium in a 8pm kick-off.
Teams
West Ham: Alphonse Areola, Kyle Walker-Peters (Wan-Bissaka 90′), Konstantinos Mavropanos, Axel Disasi, Oliver Scarles (Mayers 46′), Tomas Soucek, Mohamadou Kante (Magassa 76′), Jarrod Bowen, Matheus Fernandes (Wilson 105′), Adama Traore (Summerville 46′), Pablo (Castellanos 60′)
Substitutes: Valentin Castellanos, Finlay Herrick, Max Kilman, Soungoutou Magassa, Ezra Mayers, Freddie Potts, Crysencio Summerville, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Callum Wilson
Brentford: Caoimhin Kelleher, Keane Lewis-Potter, Nathan Collins, Kristoffer Ajer (Van den Berg 97′), Michael Kayode, Jordan Henderson, Yehor Yarmoliuk (Jensen 63′), Kevin Schade (Furo 105′), Mikkel Damsgaard (Donovan 87′), Dango Ouattara, Igor Thiago
Substitutes: Luka Bentt, Romelle Donovan, Kaye Furo, Mathias Jensen, Ethan Pinnock, Ollie Shield, Josh Stephenson, Hakon Valdimarsson, Sepp van den Berg
Referee – Andy Madley
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