Nuno Espirito Santo paid tribute to the ‘almost unstoppable’ Crysencio Summerville after West Ham United’s FA Cup supersub broke Burton Albion’s resistance at the Pirelli Stadium.
The Hammers were forced to call upon the free-scoring winner as a team sat in the relegation zone in England’s third tier threatened an upset on Saturday lunchtime.
Crysencio Summerville needed only 12 minutes to make the difference. At the beginning of extra time, West Ham United’s number seven cut inside and lashed a deflected shot past an underworked Brad Collins in the Burton goal.
Summerville peerless at the Pirelli!
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Nuno Espirito Santo admits West Ham United needed Crysencio Summerville
On a day when Adama Traore and Callum Wilson struggled to make an impact against a well-drilled Brewers outfit – turns out you can organise a defence in a Staffordshire brewery, if not an all-day lock-in – Summerville scored a sixth goal in his last seven games in league and cup.
Speaking to TNT Sports at full-time, Nuno Espirito Santo felt that even a top-quality, first division backline would have struggled to contain Summerville in this kind of form.
“We knew that [we might need him], especially after we thought we might go to extra time,” Nuno said. “There were tired legs and we needed energy. Summerville helped us a lot.
“He’s doing a good job. He’s in a good moment. Forward players need this confidence, and he has that one-v-one [ability]. When he can use it in [these kinds of] spaces, he’s almost unstoppable.”
Nineteen years after Carlos Tevez dragged West Ham to safety, Summerville is taking on both the club’s survival prospects and their hopes of cup glory on his shoulders.
West Ham might have already found 2026’s Carlos Tevez…
How many goals will Summerville end the season with?
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