West Ham and Nuno shameful in delayed victory like Man Utd, Sir Alex and Ronaldo | OneFootball

West Ham squeezed through to the fifth round of the FA Cup but Summerville’s winner fails to save Nuno Espirito Santo and his players the same shame suffered by Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United 20 years ago.

“I’ve been showing the players cup upsets throughout the years and the history of that at this club is the Manchester United game,” Gary Bowyer said ahead of the game, referencing the 0-0 draw with Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils in 2006, when not even substitutes Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney could prevent a replay against the then Conference side before Burton were turned over 5-0 at Old Trafford.

“We have just got to try and fill them with that belief that anything is possible on the day,” Bowyer added.

“And if someone produces a worldie out of nowhere, then it’s about our togetherness, running hard and fighting for everything, putting our bodies where the bodies have probably never been before and seeing what happens.”

He prepared his side for a backs-against-the-wall battle against vastly superior opposition at the Pirelli Stadium, but what they were actually faced with was a team of men purporting to be footballers who produced one of the limpest first-half displays in FA Cup history, set up to fail by a manager who showed the maximum disdain for the competition.

Like that game against United 20 years ago, Burton played as if patronised by the Premier League side’s team selection and made the running on a pitch battered by the weather but bathed in welcome sunshine against a very second-string West Ham side, featuring just one of the XI that drew with Man Utd last time out.

Rather than seeing the game as an opportunity to stake their claim for a Premier League place, the Hammers backups appeared to see their inclusion in a cup tie telegraphed by Nuno Espirito Santo as a nuisance more than an opportunity as a slight on their worth as professional footballers. To say they didn’t look up for it is a grave understatement.

Of course the Premier League is the priority. Relegation would be a disaster for West Ham. But in what way does making ten changes for an FA Cup tie having built up such a head of steam in recent weeks with ten points from their last five games aid them in their quest to stay up?

They don’t play again until next weekend. Any slim chance of injury for Jarrod Bowen – who was rested entirely – or the other game-changing Hammers is greatly outweighed by the positive effect of another win and strong performance to maintain momentum.

Liam Rosenior fielded a very strong team for Chelsea’s clash against Hull City and they ran out 4-0 winners. Two players struggling for form in Pedro Neto and Liam Delap starred to give them confidence for the games to come. No West Ham player will have benefitted from this game, aside perhaps from Summerville, whose confidence is sky-high in any case.

Burton are in the League One relegation zone and made one change from their 2-2 draw with Port Vale as Bowyer recognised the worth of a cup run in buoying the players, fans and general feeling in a football club.

As a sky banner featuring a ‘Sullivan and Brady: No more BS’ message flew over the ground before kick-off and West Ham fans held up red cards in the 15th minute to denote 15 years of mismanagement, there are few clubs in greater need of the morale boost and distraction of a cup competition they have a richer history in than most.

It took until the 37th minute for the visitors to register a shot – a tame Callum Wilson effort from the edge of the box – in a shameful opening 45 minutes for Nuno and West Ham, who were very fortunate not to concede a penalty after a blatant shove in the back of Jake Beesley by Konstantinos Mavropanos.

“They’ve got to do better West Ham, surely,” Glenn Hoddle said in angry disbelief as the second half got under way. And they did improve, as if reminded by Nuno in the dressing room that victory – if a bit of a pain with regard to their schedule – was actually preferable to a defeat which would see them plastered all over the back pages.

But an improvement from such a low bar didn’t lead to any chances of note. And to further display his contempt for the FA Cup, Nuno didn’t bring on the cavalry – Crysencio Summerville and Taty Castellanos – until the 80th minute.

There were contrasting emotions as the game went to extra time as we were confronted with another half hour of absolute drudgery but while enjoying the frustration Nuno would be feeling at his side having to play more football having very clearly not wanted them to be playing at all.

Summerville scored the richly underserved winner, cutting inside from the left before hit shot deflected over Burton goalkeeper Bradley Collins, and West Ham came through a shaky 20 minutes of extra time when down to ten men after Freddie Potts was sent off for a rash challenge.

But victory shouldn’t draw focus away from West Ham and Nuno’s shame. Like Man Utd in 2006, the visitors to the Pirelli showed no respect for their opponents or the FA Cup. And perhaps worst of all is an outcome which sees one club that wants to be in the competition denied progression by another that sees it as an unwelcome interference on their season.