Lincoln City 0-1 West Ham United
Carabao Cup third round, LNER Stadium, Wednesday 27 September 2023, 7.45pm BST
West Ham United defied a determined Lincoln City and Storm Agnes to reach the Carabao Cup fourth round with a 1-0 win at a noisy, wet and windy LNER Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Tomáš Souček was the Irons’ match-winner, converting Saïd Benrahma’s corner to earn his side a place in the last-16, but nothing came easy against Mark Kennedy’s Imps.
On a night Lincoln honoured their late manager Colin Murphy with a minute’s applause before kick-off, the home supporters would have hoped for a repeat of his third-tier Imps’ League Cup win over top-flight Leicester City in October 1982 – a victory which set up a third-round tie at Sincil Bank with… West Ham!
That tie ended 1-1, before John Lyall’s Irons spared their own blushes with a 2-1 victory in a Boleyn Ground replay.
Forty-one years on, and with both clubs at the same respective levels, the two met again at the same stage of the now-Carabao Cup, and again it was a keenly fought affair, with the hosts seeking a second straight win over Premier League opposition after their second round penalty shootout victory over Sheffield United.
West Ham lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Mohammed Kudus playing centrally alongside Pablo Fornals on the former’s Carabao Cup debut, and the Ghanaian was the Hammers’ standout performer in the first half.
Kudus caught the eye with his calmness in position, natural balance and dribbling ability, and nearly caught out goalkeeper Lukas Jensen with a shot at his near post.
Benrahma also forced Lukas Jensen into a full-length diving save 12 minutes in, and Danny Ings missed a big opportunity when clean through just before half-time.
The opening 45 minutes were not without alarm, though, as former Millwall manager Mark Kennedy’s Imps repeatedly threatened Łukasz Fabiański’s goal. Indeed, it took a one-handed wonder-save from the 38-year-old Pole to keep out former Academy of Football schoolboy Hakeeb Adelakun’s powerful header four minutes before the break.
Seconds later, Adelakun put a shot wide. The centre-forward’s long throws led to an early chance for captain Paudie O’Connor that the Irishman volleyed over, and a ‘goal’ scored by Millwall loanee Alex Mitchell that was ruled out for offside, while Fabiański also held efforts from Reeco Hackett and Lasse Sørensen.
Into the second half and, with Storm Agnes blowing rain at Lincoln’s backs, Dane Sørensen had the first opportunity, driving over, before shots from Hackett and Ethan Hamilton both caught on the strong wind and flew high into the night.
Kudus then tested Jensen again with a dipping free-kick, before David Moyes went to his bench, bringing on teenager Divin Mubama and Edson Álvarez for their Carabao Cup debuts with 25 minutes to play.
The Mexican saw a long-range shot blocked wide within minutes of his introduction and, from the result Benrahma corner, Souček converted at the neat post from six yards out.
A goal down, Lincoln began to open up and were nearly caught out when Ben Johnson fired against the base of the post from 25 yards, the full-back being denied a confidence-boosting goal on his first appearance of the season, and again when Kudus’ volley was smartly stopped by Jensen.
Lincoln were not done, though, with Jack Burroughs and substitute Dylan Duffy both working Fabiański, the latter with a rasping effort that the goalkeeper did well to keep out.
With that, West Ham battened down the hatches, the Imps’ threat was finally repelled and the Londoners headed out of Storm Agnes’s clutches and into the fourth round.
Lincoln City: Jensen, Sørensen, Mitchell, O’Connor ©, Roughan, Burroughs, Erhahon, Hamilton, Hackett (Duffy 78), Smith (Bishop 78), Adelakun (Makama 78)
Subs not used: Wright (GK), Brown, Jackson, Eyoma, Makama
Booked: O’Connor
West Ham United: Fabiański, Kehrer, Mavropanos, Ogbonna ©, Johnson, Souček, Fornals (Álvarez 65), Benrahma, Kudus, Cornet (Mubama 65), Ings
Subs not used: Anang (GK), Coufal, Aguerd, Casey, Coventry, Chesters, Marshall
Goal: Souček 70
Booked: Souček
Referee: Josh Smith
Attendance: 10,168 (with 1,836 from West Ham United)
