Roller-Coaster Replay Ends In Penalty Agony

Everton played with 10 men for over an hour as this FA Cu0 replay went to extra time only for their spirited display to end in the agony of defeat in a penalty shootout

West Ham 2-2 Everton

West Ham win 9-8 on pens

20 years on from their last FA Cup triumph, Everton will not be returning to Wembley to hoist the trophy for a sixth time this coming May. The magic of the famous old competition teased and tormented the Blues tonight throughout an evening of escalating drama at Upton Park, raising Roberto Martinez's depleted team up on the back of a revelatory performance by Joe Robles and a mesmeric contribution by Kevin Mirallas until passage to the Fourth Round was in sight... before snatching it away from them at the end of a gut-wrenching penalty shootout.

There was understandable agony in defeat, not least for Robles, who had kept his side in the tie with a series of excellent saves but then crashed the Blues' last spot kick off the crossbar. And for Romelu Lukaku, whose goal in the first period of extra time, dedicated to his fallen friend Junior Malanda by way of a poignant finger to the sky, looked to have completed a stunning reversal of the tie after Aiden McGeady's dismissal just 10 minutes into the second half.

And yet, the manner in which Everton not only fought back but would often dominate and outclass their hosts despite being a man down for over an hour of this thrilling contest means that, even in defeat, this is a match likely to reverberate for weeks through a season that looked to be imploding but which is now slowly turning on the back of a timely revival of team spirit and unity of purpose.

The hole they found themselves in after 56 minutes was largely of their own making. But the difference between the way this team, knocked down by Enner Valencia's 51st-minute goal and McGeady's second yellow card five minutes later, responded to that adversity and the one that crumbled to four successive defeats in twelve days over Christmas could not have been more stark. Much of the credit should go to Mirallas, who showed no ill effects from his bothersome ankle as he swept home the equaliser eight minutes from the end of the regulation 90 and then twisted the Hammers defence into knots to lay on the goal for Lukaku. But there was a collective will and determination that ran right through the Blues' ranks, one that either dispels rumours of disharmony in the team or suggests that such discord is well and truly over.

Martinez's plan for this replay was established by his first unchanged starting XI of the season. Presumably because of Mirallas' admission that he is still feeling the effects of an ankle injury he sustained against QPR a month ago, McGeady retained his place in the side and lined up on the right side of an attacking foursome rounded out by Lukaku, Steven Naismith and Ross Barkley.

Settling into what was an open game from the outset, Everton looked the brighter, tidier and sharper of the two sides in the early going but seemed to lack confidence when it came to the final ball. A number of promising situations called either for an earlier cross, release or shot on goal but Martinez's men seemed to hold back, trying to walk the ball into the Hammers' box at times.

McGeady, whose ebbing confidence would have benefited from a goal, had two early efforts when he finally decided to try his luck from outside the box, one that he choked tamely wide and the other more accurate shot that he fired into Andy Carroll following a corner.

That early promise from Everton was almost undone, though, by an uncharacteristically awful error by John Stones who was caught trying to dribble away from his own area by Valencia but was saved by Robles who closed the angle on the Ecuadorian as he danced past Phil Jagielka and made a one-handed save to divert the shot wide of goal. The Hammers generally seemed content to hang back and try and hit the Blues on the break, though, and apart from a Stewart Downing shot that slid a yard wide they were largely being contained in the first half.

Indeed, their better moments came from cheap giveaways by Everton players. First they countered following Naismith's poor layoff but Alex Song drove his shot into Valencia instead of troubling Robles; then Barry passed straight to Matt Jarvis in midfield and McGeady clumsily brought him down earning his first yellow card of the evening and providing Allardyce's men with an opportunity from the set-piece.

The best move of the half was engineered by the visitors, though, when Naismith collected Lukaku's well-weighted ball to the left channel and he almost played McGeady in but Aaron Cresswell got across well to force the Irishman into prodding wide.

With no changes at the break, the same pattern of play continued into the second half but when Lukaku was caught offside for a third time, the Blues completely switched off as West Ham took the resulting free kick quickly through Song. Noble threaded a pass through a huge hole in midfield to Carroll who in turn found Valencia's run and the striker took a touch beyond Stones before tucking the ball past Robles.

And what could easily have been the early death knell for Everton arrived shortly afterwards when McGeady went flying into a sliding tackle on Mark Noble and earned himself an early bath. Slow motion replays would later show that Noble had craftily pulled both legs clear of the Irishman's boot to avoid all contact but then proceeded to sell the foul with aplomb prompting the referee into brandishing the dreaded second yellow. "Shit-housery" of the first order from a seasoned professional but it was a stupid challenge by McGeady that would have earned him a yellow regardless.

Martinez would respond with two positive substitutions, removing Ross Barkley, who had had another tentative and ineffective game, and the less fortunate Muhamed Besic who had been committed and purposeful but whose inexperience relative to Barry often means he is the one to make way. Bryan Oviedo and Mirallas were introduced and the Belgian looked to have pulled the Blues back into the tie when he popped up in front of goal to meet Lukaku's square pass. His side-foot shot was blocked miraculously by James Tomkins, however, who prevented a certain goal.

Valencia then had a carbon-copy chance to the one from which he'd scored earlier but Coleman was wise to it and he blocked it behind before Robles made a one-handed save to deny James Collins from the resulting corner.

Two minutes later, though, after Collins had taken Lukaku down right on the edge of the box, Mirallas did equalise with another fabulous free kick. The Belgian cleared the wall and swept a wickedly curling ball into the left side of the goal, clear of Adrian's despairing dive and the Blues were back in it but, a man down, were now facing 30 unwanted minutes of extra time. To get there they had to withstand a late assault by the home side which saw Cresswell fire over from a free kick and Robles push Nolan's over-the-shoulder shot over the crossbar.

It is to Everton's enormous credit that they carried their ascendency despite being a man short into extra time and, after Robles had been called into action once more to deny Noble, they would stun Upton Park by taking the lead. Lukaku really should have scored when Seamus Coleman's low cross deflected into his path inside the six-yard box but he somehow mis-kicked in front of the goalkeeper. He made amends, though, from the ensuing throw-in following quite brilliant work by Mirallas who jinked around two defenders with the ball seemingly glued to his feet and slid it across for Lukaku to stab home from close range. Both Belgians celebrated in the huddle of players by saluting their international teammate, Malanda.

For a long period afterwards it seemed as though there would only be one winner as Everton pressed for a killer third and Mirallas wreaked havoc on the panicky Hammers defence. Teammates Noble and Tomkins almost came to blows in a bizarre exchange as the Hammers threatened to buckle. First, he drove towards their box but had his shot charged down by Collins and then he fell under a challenge by Tomkins as he skipped into the area from the right flank two minutes into the second half of extra time.

Referee Swarbrick, whose personal performance had been deterioriating as the match wore on as he persistently ignored the elbowing and barging meted out on Everton's defenders by Carroll, initially signalled a goal kick but was forced to recognise an infringement by his assistant's flag. He gave a free kick despite the infringement having clearly taken place a yard inside the box. With West Ham rocked back on their heels, a successfully converted penalty at that stage would have killed the tie but Oviedo fired the resulting free kick into the wall.

And after Mirallas had seen an attempted curler from 20 yards bend wide, West Ham equalised from another poorly-defended corner. Tomkins rose above Jagielka and the ball dropped to the feet of substitute Carlton Cole who couldn't miss in front of the Blues' goal. 2-2 and penalties seemed inevitable but both sides would go desperately close to winning it.

Lukaku's impressive drive through the West Ham defence with just two minutes left presented him with a gilt-edged chance from the angle but he dragged his shot across goal with the away fans behind the goal ready to leap together as one at the winner. And, after Robles had palmed Amalfitano's shot away and the match now in stoppage time in extra time, Valencia was released into space behind the Everton defence but he chose to square it to Cole and that gave Stones and Robles time to smother the chance.

That just left the lottery of penalties, one Everton looked destined to lose after Adrian had pushed Naismith's spot-kick over and West Ham successfully converted their first four penalties. However, having guessed the wrong way on each of the preceding kicks, Robles went the right way for the fifth and prevented Downing from winning the tie then. Unfortunately, Everton's and the Spaniard's misery would be delayed another four kicks when, with the score level at 8-8, Robles saw his own powerful penalty cannon off the bar and in front of goal while Adrian swept home the winner.

There was equal pain and pride for Evertonians at the end as Lukaku ran straight to his crestfallen 'keeper to console him and the army of travelling Blues, who had put their rival fans to shame by eclipsing their number at Goodison last week six-fold, applauded what had been a remarkable performance despite the man disadvantage.

Yes, the Wembley dream is over for another season, potentially extending our trophy drought beyond the 20-year mark. And, yes, both West Ham goals were poorly conceded from an Everton perspective, with the passage from Leon Osman's biography about the team not training for corners still resonating with those who are baffled by Everton's weakness on set-pieces. You also wonder if a Moyes-style defensive substitution in the second half of extra time might have helped preserve the lead.

But amid the sad exit from the competition solace can be taken from some very pleasing aspects. The straight-back-at-'em" attitude that has driven the Blues to claw back deficits in each of their last three games after such a galling absence in the four games before that was pleasing to see and something that will stand Martinez's team in good stead in the coming weeks.

The goal now, of course, is to finally put a first win in 12 on the board when West Brom visit Goodison next Monday and follow that up with a run of good results timed with the resumption of the Europa League campaign which, together with ensuring Premier League survival, is now the central goal of the season. Show the kind of indomitable spirit they displayed this evening and Everton could go deep into Continental competition this season.

Follow @EFCLyndon

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