IMPERFECT BRACE
West Ham 3 Charlton Athletic 0
The Carabao (League) Cup has replaced the Football Combination League in recent years as the cup competition for the bigger clubs’ second string team outings. Mark Noble has recently said he doesn’t care what the competition is, any silverware would be nice. This silverware is a three-handled Georgian-style urn with a separate plinth designed and manufactured by Mappin and Webb, the original League Cup trophy, worth around £20,000. Proper silverware.
West Ham had drawn Lee Bowyer’s Charlton Athletic for their League Cup Second Round opponents, a team narrowly relegated from the Championship last season, and the one that Josh Cullen has been on loan at for the last two seasons.
Hammers quickly had the ball in the net after Snodgrass’ corner was hit goalwards by Haller and bundled in at the far post by Yarmolenko, but the goal was disallowed due to pushing by Sébastien Haller. Yarmolenko then found Johnson wide on the right, who kept the ball in with an arty flick before putting it in on a plate for Haller, but Haller dropped the plate and stubbed the ball wide.
Two minutes later Cullen’s expert pass picked out Yarmolenko whose cross produced a right-footed tap in for Haller. Charlton barely had time to re-organise their formation before Yarmolenko found Snodgrass wide on the left, and his precise cross picked out Haller who headed home from the centre of the six yard box. It wasn’t the best thing to happen to the game halfway through the first half, as it gave West Ham a cushion that they seemed happier to lie on than plump up.
Captain for the evening Fabian Balbuena then gave the ball away playing it out of defence, and the Charlton substitute Chuks Aneke found Jonny Williams whose first time shot almost found a way past Randolph, but the keeper right-pawed it wide of the goalpost just in time. Lanzini, never the same player he was under Bilic since his injury, found a little bit of his old ball-juggling magic before sliding it into the path of Anderson who passed the ball into the corner of the net to hit West Ham’s third.
The only issue left to be resolved was whether or not Haller would join the elite of Hammers who have hit hat-tricks for the club, the last one being Antonio’s at Norwich City’s free fall event just two months ago. Haller somehow managed to miss relatively straightforward chances in the 87th and 91st minutes that would have achieved this feat. I say ‘somehow’. At the time I wondered why he had seemed to want to convert both opportunities with his left foot until I recalled the concept of the perfect hat-trick. I hadn’t previously been aware that this existed on the continent, but Haller’s clear attempts to execute his two late chances with a left, educated me on this point. For those who care, Billy Bonds’ only career hat-trick came against Chelsea in the 1974-75 season in a 3-0 victory, and was a ‘perfect,’ featuring a left and right foot finish as well as a header. Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson also scored a ‘perfect’ hat-trick in a 5-0 League Cup quarter-final win against Sheffield United at Upton Park in November 1971. But against League One Charlton on Tuesday September 15th 2020, Sebastien Haller did not. No matter. Three goals for the Hammers and a first win of the season.
The only headache for Moyes after this success and before Saturday’s game at the Emirates is whether or not to reward Josh Cullen’s performance against his old loan homies with a Premier League start against the Arsenal. Moyes will prove he is prepared to indulge his young charges with opportunity if he decides to do so.
35 Darren Randolph, 4 Fabian Balbuena (captain), 7 Andriy Yarmolenko, 8 Felipe Anderson, 10 Manuel Lanzini, 11 Robert Snodgrass, 22 Sébastien Haller, 23 Issa Diop, 26 Arthur Masuaku, 31 Ben Johnson, 33 Josh Cullen
Substitutes: 50 Harrison Ashby, 54 Conor Coventry
