AFC Wimbledon dump West Ham out of the FA Cup on night to remember
AFC Wimbledon 4-2 West Ham: The club which in its previous incarnation stunned mighty Liverpool at Wembley to lift the trophy in 1988 pulled off a victory almost as unlikely
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Your support makes all the difference.AFC Wimbledon wrote another chapter in their FA Cup history with a stunning victory over West Ham.
The club which in its previous incarnation stunned mighty Liverpool at Wembley to lift the trophy in 1988 pulled off a victory almost as unlikely at a delirious Kingsmeadow.
The Dons are rock bottom of League One and were heavily beaten by Barnsley and Fleetwood in their last two matches.
Yet this was not a case of inspired minnows hanging on for a narrow win. For almost an hour they simply outplayed West Ham, a club who had spent £100m over the summer and currently lie 57 places above them.
When Scott Wagstaff scored his second goal after Kwesi Appiah’s opener, Wimbledon were 3-0 up and cruising a minute into the second half.
West Ham substitutes Lucas Perez and Felipe Anderson raised hopes of a comeback, only for Dons sub Toby Sibbick sealed the deal two minutes from time.
As expected, Marko Arnautovic was missing from the West Ham squad despite his transfer volte-face the previous evening.
The Austrian striker previously stated he wanted a big-money move to China after a £35m bid was turned down by the Hammers hierarchy.
But Arnautovic, 29, has now confirmed his intention to stay, insisting wanted to “try to to win the Cup”.
That will not be happening after a hugely embarrassing defeat for Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
The presence of the live television cameras suggested a potential upset but this current Wimbledon vintage are a world away from the side which triumphed 31 years ago.
In December they appointed Wally Downes, a ‘Crazy Gang’ member from back in the day, and a former West Ham coach, as manager but they are without a win in the league since Boxing Day.
West Ham had overcame an early scare against the Dons in the Carabao Cup earlier this season, conceding an early goal before going on to win 3-1 against 10 men.
You would have thought they would have learned, but Wimbledon almost repeated the trick when Terrell Tomas blazed an excellent chance over the crossbar from 10 yards out.
Just like in their meeting in August, Wimbledon had their illustrious visitors rattled in the opening stages and Mitch Pinnock’s cross-shot from a free-kick forced an unconvincing punch from Hammers keeper Adrian.
West Ham were soon back under the cosh and Adrian did well to hold on to a near-post post header from Dylan Connolly, but the Spaniard could do nothing about Appiah’s goal.
Appiah, back in the team for the first time since he scored the last-minute winner against Fleetwood in round three, struck 11 minutes before half-time.
Again West Ham were penned in their own area and when a half-clearance fell to Appiah, his shot took a deflection and spun past the helpless Adrian.
Seven minutes later Pedro Obiang lost the ball to Wagstaff while the rest of the West Ham defence waved him through.
The former Charlton midfielder still had plenty to do but kept his composure to beat the onrushing Adrian and give the hosts a 2-0 half-time lead.
A clearly unimpressed Pellegrini made a triple substitition at half-time, turning to Ryan Fredericks, Perez and record signing Anderson.
But 41 seconds into the second half his side found themselves three goals down, Appiah crossing for Wagstaff to poke home from 12 yards out.
However, Perez pulled one back in the 57th minute when he swept the ball home after a goalmouth scramble, and when Anderson curled in a delightful free-kick with 20 minutes the comeback looked well and truly on.
West Ham’s desperation was illustrated when Arthur Masuaku, who was lucky not to concede a penalty for a trip on Tennai Watson, was booked for a dive at the other end.
Instead Sibbick wrapped up a memorable cup upset with a header two minutes from time to send West Ham packing.
Wimbledon: Ramsdale, Watson, Thomas, Oshilaja, McDonald, Nightingale, Wordsworth, Connolly (Sibbick, 85), Pinnock (Soares, 64), Appiah (Jervis, 75), Wagstaff. Subs: McDonnell, Garratt, Trotter, Sibbick, Pigott.
West Ham: Adrian, Antonio, Ogbonna, Diop, Masuaku, Obiang (Anderson, 46), Noble, Snodgrass, Diangana (Fredericks, 46), Carroll (Perez, 46), Hernandez. Subs: Fabianski, Holland, Rice, Coventry.
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