Awful duo Nayef Aguerd and Michail Antonio were to blame for the gutting West Ham defeat to Man United in a wide open FA Cup.
The Hammers put in a superb performance for the most part between the two boxes in this fifth round clash at Old Trafford.
And West Ham deservedly took the lead through Said Benrahma’s thunderbolt on 54 minutes.
But some utterly woeful finishing from “striker” Antonio and equally dismal defending from Aguerd cost West Ham the chance of a place in the quarter-finals of an FA Cup that is there to be won for a club like the Hammers this season.
Left-footed Aguerd looked like a fish out of water right-sided centre back and gave the ball away four or five times with errant passes into midfield.
Awful duo Nayef Aguerd and Michail Antonio to blame for gutting West Ham defeat to Man United in wide open FA Cup
The Moroccan has been brilliant since getting up to full speed but this was a night to forget.
He made a complete hash of a clearance to concede the corner from which he scored an own goal as Man United drew level.
Aguerd then made a complete hash of a relatively straightforward clearance, playing the ball directly to Man United on the edge of the box before it was played to Alejandro Garnacho who curled home.
To rub salt in the wound Aguerd completed a miserable evening by miscontrolling the ball inside his own box as Man United pounced to make it 3-1.
Roy Keane described West Ham’s defending as shocking and laughable. He was being polite.
Antonio must shoulder an equal share of the blame, though, spurning two gilt-edged one on ones and making some awful decisions which exposed that he is NOT a proper striker.
Half of the quarter-finalists are from outside the top flight and West Ham should comfortably be in the hat.
Antonio must only ever play for West Ham as a wide forward or impact sub at best.
This was a MASSIVE chance for West Ham to win the FA Cup after a 43 year major trophy drought.
Who knows when the cup will open up like this again in the future. Another night being the nearly men.