LINCOLN TAKE THE BISCUIT
Lincoln City 0 West Ham 1
Tonight’s Carabao Cup Third Round fixture pits West Ham against Lincoln City, a team that they have only met once in any competitive fixture in the last 75 years. November 1982 was the last time they came together, also in the League Cup, away in the third round. West Ham were then in the top flight and Lincoln were in the third tier, as they both are today.
The fixture in 1982 finished 1-1, an early goal from Paul Goddard seemingly enough to get the Hammers through until Derek Bell nodded in Phil Turner’s free kick eight minutes from time after a sustained siege on Phil Parkes’ goal. The attendance of 13,899 was Lincoln’s best for a decade. West Ham were third in the league at this time, and had to replay the fixture two and a half weeks later at home.
On that occasion it again finished 1-1 after 90 minutes, Ray Stewart surprisingly recording a rare missed penalty, though he netted the rebound on this occasion. Lincoln’s equaliser that evening was an own goal by Sandy Clark thirteen minutes from time, deflecting George Shipley’s cross into his own net.
That night Clark was to make amends at Upton Park by netting an extra time winner in the 116th minute, and West Ham went on to meet Notts County in the next round, eventually put out by Liverpool in the quarter-finals, the team who had beaten them at Villa Park in the final of the same competition just two years earlier following a draw at Wembley.
Tonight there are 10,168 in attendance, and nearly 2,000 of those are travelling Hammers’ fans. West Ham start well, but Danny Ings misses an early opportunity with only the keeper to beat. At the other end Fabianski saves superbly from Reeco Hackett-Fairchild’s header. Just before half-time Ings misses another excellent scoring opportunity.
West Ham continue to look dangerous in the break in the second half, and twenty minutes from time an excellent corner from Ward-Prowse is drilled home from the centre of the goal by Tomas Souček. Ben Johnson then beats Lukas Jensen with a powerful right-footed shot only to see his effort come back off the post.
Dylan Duffy then forces another brilliant save from Fabianski after Álvarez’s uncharacteristic loose ball, but it is Kudus who has the last genuine chance only to see his effort turned round the post by Jensen. West Ham’s reward for the narrow victory is a fifth round home tie against Arsenal, a game in which Hammer of the Year Declan Rice may well not feature.
1 Lucas Fabianski, 3 Aaron Cresswell, 5 Vladimir Coufal, 23 Thilo Kehrer, 27 Nayef Aguerd, 15 Konstantinos Mavropanus, 11 Lucas Paquetá, 22 Saïd Benrahma, 8 Pablo Fornals, 18 Danny Ings, 14 Mohammed Kudus
Substitutes: 33 Emerson, 9 Michail Antonio, 28 Tomas Souček
Goalscorer: Tomas Souček
