West Ham are one win from Wembley in the FA Cup after beating Brentford with five perfect penalties and one pathetic Panenka the difference following a 2-2 draw in normal time.
The Hammers are in the last eight of the FA Cup for the first time in a decade and will face Leeds on the weekend of April 4-5 for a place in the semi-finals at Wembley.
Nuno Espirito Santo showed what his priority is this season by making seven changes from the West Ham side which beat Fulham 1-0 in the Premier League last time out.
That approach is understandable with the Hammers in the thick of a relegation battle and Man City up next at the London Stadium this Saturday.
Perfect penalties and a dodgy Panenka put West Ham one win from Wembley
West Ham twice took the lead against Brentford through Jarrod Bowen.
But they were pegged back by Keith Andrews’ Bees with West Ham’s defending questionable on both occasions.
We win it on pens 😎 Do you fancy us to beat Leeds and book a trip to Wembley?!
Penalties were a big theme in the game with Bowen getting West Ham’s second from the spot after a foul on Adama Traore and Igor Thiago levelling up at 2-2 following a foul by Crysencio Summerville.
That ensured the match went to extra-time, which resembled a pre-season friendly before the penalty shootout.
West Ham were perfect from the spot, scoring all five of theirs while Dango Ouattara became the latest opposition player to try and fail with a Panenka penalty against the Hammers.
Danny Welbeck and Ademola Lookman have tried and failed with them previously and this time it helped put West Ham in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, along with five brilliantly executed penalties from Nuno’s side.
Nuno couldn’t watch as his players took their spot kicks saying afterwards: “I’ve been told they were good but I didn’t see them.”
It was a controversial name from West Ham’s not-too-distant past that will be on everyone’s lips after the game, though, in the shape of Tim Steidten.
The German was sacked ahead of the January transfer window last year, just 18 months into what he went on record to say was a five-year project at West Ham.
West Ham have Steidten to thank for midfield monster Kante
In reality he only had one window in which he was in full control of transfers – and it has been viewed as disastrous with £155m on 10 players.
There is no denying Steidten squandered much of that money, leaving West Ham with a poorly assembled squad which Graham Potter somehow made even worse.
Kante has just given Nuno something to think about! 🇫🇷
What did you make of his performance?
But for all Steidten’s failings, he left West Ham a £500,000 parting gift which could one day be worth at least £50m in the shape of Mohamadou Kante.
West Ham announced the signing of Kante from Ligue 2 club Paris FC for just £500k in what turned out to be Steidten’s last addition as technical director.
The hugely talented, rangy box-to-box midfielder has all the ingredients on paper to be the perfect Premier League midfielder.
And that was on full display as Kante put in a brilliant performance bursting with potential in the cup clash with Brentford.
Kante was one of seven changes to the side and he made the Hammers tick, catching the eye of commentator Ally McCoist.
He controlled midfield with a mature and imposing performance and his passing was excellent too.
Thiago is one of the strongest players in the Premier League and Kante was throwing him around like a ragdoll during one tussle before a corner kick.
Kante broke lines by surging forward with the ball when the opportunity arose and was a contender for man of the match until he was substituted for Soungoutou Magassa on 76 minutes.
It says a lot about how well Kante was playing that Brentford quickly got themselves on top when he went off.
And Nuno paid the price when the Hammers gave away a penalty five minutes later.
But West Ham’s own perfection from the spot got their manager out of jail after extra-time.
Steidten snared Kante for West Ham on a five-year deal, which the club have already improved and extended.
Kante is very highly rated over in France and after this performance he will be in England too.
The Hammers have an absolute monster of a midfielder in the making – and love him or loathe him, they have Steidten to thank.
West Ham player ratings vs Brentford:
Areola: 8/10, Walker-Peters: 8/10, Mavropanos: 8/10, Disasi: 9/10, Scarles: 5/10, Soucek: 7.5/10, Fernandes: 8/10, Kante: 9/10, Traore: 8/10, Bowen: 9/10, Pablo: 8/10.
Subs: Summerville: 7/10, Wilson: 7/10, Castellanos: 6/10, Magassa: 6/10, Wan-Bissaka: 7.5/10.
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