For West Ham’s second string, barring a shock defeat this could barely have been a more uncomfortable afternoon. With the captain Jarrod Bowen among a clutch of regulars given a breather, it was Crysencio Summerville, a late substitute Nuno Espírito Santo would have rather kept fresh, who spared embarrassment at Burton Albion and helped them into the FA Cup fifth round. Four years ago at Kidderminster, in this competition, it was Declan Rice who entered to save their skin and it was a similar story here, Summerville’s extra-time strike preventing penalties.
West Ham squeezed through, Freddie Potts’s red card 11 minutes into extra time for crunching into the Burton substitute Julian Larsson ensuring a nervy finale, in which another sub Kain Adom skittled a stoppage-time shot against the side netting. For Gary Bowyer, Burton’s colourful head coach who was wearing boxing gloves when he greeted his squad in the dressing room, a nod to a theme adopted through this Cup run, they almost landed a knockout blow.
Bowyer made filling his players with belief his primary objective, empowering them to bridge the 47-place gap between the sides and register their names in history, reaching the last 16 of the competition for the first time. Burton made it to the Carabao Cup semi-finals under Nigel Clough seven years ago, when the goalkeeper Brad Collins, on loan then from Chelsea and now from Coventry, endured a draining night picking the ball out of his net as Manchester City killed the tie with a 9-0 first-leg victory. John Brayford, part of Bowyer’s coaching staff, was in defence that day.
Throughout the week Bowyer drip-fed nuggets of inspiration to his squad, video of Burton securing a third-round replay at Old Trafford in 2006 which paid off the debts of this stadium and some more recent footage, AFC Wimbledon beating West Ham and Stevenage shocking Aston Villa, in which the Burton defenders Toby Sibbick and Terence Vancooten respectively featured. Macclesfield dumping out holders Crystal Palace in the previous round also got an airing, the kind of upset, the Burton manager says, that sows a seed of doubt in Premier League opposition.
This certainly proved an uneasy afternoon for West Ham, for whom Konstantinos Mavropanos was the only survivor from the side that would have beaten Manchester United on Tuesday but for Benjamin Sesko’s 96th-minute equaliser. The winger Keiber Lamadrid made his debut after joining on loan from Venezuelan club Deportivo La Guaira last month, while there were first starts in claret and blue for Mohamadou Kanté and Adama Traoré.
It was Traoré who fashioned West Ham’s first discernible flash of Premier League quality, pressing pause and then speeding past centre-back Sibbick before sending a dangerous ball into the six-yard box. The ball eluded Callum Wilson and just as Ollie Scarles attacked the cross, Kyran Lofthouse intervened to take it off his toes.
West Ham were dire in the first half but improved in the second, that chance indicative of a desire to at least give a side 21st in League One and winless in five matches something to think about. Mavropanos soared high to direct a header at Collins from a corner and the deputising West Ham captain later skewed wide. Wilson sent a first-time shot at Collins from a tight angle but there was little hard evidence to suggest this game was going to be boxed off without extra time.
Both teams struggled to create clear chances, prompting the in-form Summerville to take matters into his own hands four minutes into extra time. The West Ham winger darted inside off the left flank and drifted unopposed towards the edge of the box, dispatching a curled shot at goal that looped past Collins via a deflection. Given the paucity of Burton chances, that presumably was that? Potts’s red card plunged West Ham into bother, Jack Armer placing a shot wide with the final 15 minutes looming. Nuno called for Axel Disasi and Malick Diouf to see out the game. Just.
