Carabao Cup results in full: West Ham back to winning ways as Brentford hit Birmingham for six | OneFootball

Irons ready to kick on after comeback victory on south coast

West Ham finally secured their first win of the season as they came from behind to beat Southampton 4-1 and progress to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, while Brentford trounced Birmingham City 6-1.

The Irons have made a stuttering start to life in the second tier, with Nuno Espirito Santo coming in for scrutiny after failing to win either of his first two Championship outings.

But there finally appears to have been a break in the east London clouds as a youthful West Ham produced an impressive turnaround to get the better of the Saints.

For a time, it seemed Southampton were set to extend West Ham’s miserable month. They started the brighter and Leo Scienza took advantage of some slack defending to put the hosts in front after ten minutes.

It was not clear where West Ham’s response might originate, and it was the 19-year-old Joshua Ajala who grabbed the match by the horns.

The youngster, making just his third first-team appearance and his first start, headed home shortly before the break to equalise, before cutting out a poor clearance and firing home to put his side ahead early in the second half. The two goals were the first of his senior career.

Nuno introduced the cavalry on the hour mark, throwing Jarrod Bowen, Taty Castellanos and Arne Engels, the most expensive player in Championship history into the mix, and they were effective in killing off the match. Taty doubled the Irons’ advantage before club captain Bowen buried a fine fourth to set the home support filing to the exits.

Elsewhere, Keith Andrews’ Brentford continued their fine start to the campaign by hitting a sorry Birmingham City for six, Demarai Gray’s first-half equaliser a distant memory by the time the full-time whistle blew.

Nathan Collins’ brace helped Brentford into the next round

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Igor Thiago was named to the PFA team of the year mid-match and celebrated, if unknowingly, by scoring his first goal of the campaign, while Nathan Collins bagged a brace.

At the City Ground, Oliver Glasner’s early-season headaches intensified as his Forest were dumped out unceremoniously by Leeds. It was a second meeting between the sides in the past four days, with Forest failing to score in either match and conceding three.

Ipswich and Coventry were both in action, and both secured their progression with relatively straightforward victories over Leicester and Plymouth Argyle, respectively.

Millwall edged Cambridge 1-0 to stay in the competition, though the giantkillers Hull City, who beat Manchester United convincingly last time out, required penalties to beat Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium.

So too did Leyton Orient, as Noah Phillips made two stops in the shootout to help the north London outfit past Walsall.

Oliver Glasner has food for thought after a chastening first week in the Nottingham Forest dugout

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Carabao Cup results in full: August 25