NOTTINGHAM FOREST 5
WEST HAM UNITED 0
NOTTINGHAM // West Ham United became the second Premier League team to be eliminated by lower-league opposition in this season’s FA Cup when they crashed 5-0 at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Jamie Paterson was the star man for Championship side Forest with a 14-minute hat-trick against a second-string West Ham team featuring three young debutantes.
West Ham’s defeat at the City Ground follows Aston Villa’s 2-1 loss at home to third-tier Sheffield United on Saturday.
Forest took a 12th-minute lead with an audacious dinked penalty from Algerian midfielder Djamel Abdoun, after Paterson drew a foul from George Moncur with a sharp Cruyff turn.
In response, Ravel Morrison saw a free kick palmed over the crossbar by Karl Darlow, but Forest finished the first half strongly.
West Ham goalkeeper Adrian had to save with his feet from Eric Lichaj and Henri Lansbury blazed the rebound over the bar.
Paterson added a second in the 65th minute, drilling home a low shot, and he made it 3-0 six minutes later by stabbing home from Lansbury’s square pass.
The 22-year-old forward completed his triple in fine style in the 79th minute, drifting past three visiting defenders on the edge of the penalty area before lashing a low shot into the bottom-left corner.
Andy Reid slammed home in injury time to complete a miserable afternoon for Sam Allardyce’s West Ham, who are currently second from bottom in the Premier League table.
LIVERPOOL 2
OLDHAM ATHLETIC
Much-maligned forward Iago Aspas scored his first Liverpool goal to help his club into the fourth round of the FA Cup but it was far from an easy 2-0 victory over Oldham.
The 26-year-old summer signing from Celta Vigo has endured a difficult start to his Anfield career and never looked comfortable in the Premier League.
Wearing the No 9 shirt for Liverpool carries significant history and expectation considering the greats who have graced it in the past.
But Aspas was handed the responsibility of leading the line with 20-goal striker Luis Suarez rested and he eventually delivered with a decent strike 10 minutes after half-time.
James Tarkowski’s late own goal, diverting in Raheem Sterling’s shot, gave Liverpool the cushion they needed - especially as they were down to 10 men after Daniel Agger was forced off injured with three substitutions already made.
DERBY COUNTY 0
CHELSEA 2
Chelsea overcame in-form Championship side Derby County 2-0 in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.
Derby have won 10 of their 15 league games since former England manager Steve McClaren took over, but they fell to second-half goals from John Mikel Obi and Oscar as Chelsea set up a fourth-round meeting with Stoke City.
Chelsea enjoyed the best of the first half at Pride Park but they were largely restricted to pot shots from distance.
Oscar went close on three occasions, while Ramires saw a low shot come back off the base of the left-hand post in first-half stoppage time.
As Chelsea continued to labour in the second period, manager Jose Mourinho introduced Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres from the bench, and in the 66th minute the visitors made the breakthrough.
Hazard’s trickery wide on the left yielded a free-kick and from Willian’s wicked, in-swinging cross, Mikel glanced home a header to mark his 300th Chelsea appearance with his fourth goal for the club.
Oscar got on the score-sheet shortly afterwards, gathering a pass from Hazard and beating Lee Grant at his near post with a powerful shot.
Torres should have added a third but after rounding Grant he got the ball caught under his feet, while Ramires also saw a deflected shot skim the bar.
SUNDERLAND 3
CARLISLE 1
Beleaguered Gus Poyet was handed a boost as Sunderland eased past League One Carlisle to book their place in the FA Cup fourth round.
The relegation-haunted Black Cats headed in at 1-1 at half time after Matty Robson had cancelled out Adam Johnson’s fine free kick.
However, Sean O’Hanlon’s own goal and a late strike from substitute El-Hadji Ba meant it ended 3-1 to the hosts, killing off any hope of an upset for the 5,631 travelling fans among a crowd of 21,973 and securing a fourth round home tie against either Kidderminster or Peterborough for Poyet’s men.
The fact that it was achieved without skipper John O’Shea, Italy midfielder Emanuele Giaccherini and main striker Steven Fletcher will have been a source of comfort for the Uruguayan amid a cluttered schedule.
However, while progression in both domestic cup competitions has been welcome, it is the fight for Premier League survival which remains the overriding priority.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
