Reece Burke's extra-time winner spares West Ham blushes in FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury Town

West Ham United 0 Shrewsbury Town 0 (AET: 1-0): A youthful Hammers side were spared the unpredictability of penalties thanks to Burke's late strike

Reece Burke celebrates scoring the winner for West Ham (Getty)

Should it have taken 202 minutes of football for West Ham United to score past Shrewsbury Town? Probably not, but they did it in the end and now find themselves in the fourth round of the FA Cup, with a trip to Wigan or Bournemouth to look forward to next weekend.

On a long, cold night at the London Stadium, a young West Ham team edged slowly towards the Shrewsbury goal, not looking much more threatening than they did in the 0-0 draw last week. It felt even after 10pm that this was a night heading for a penalty shoot-out.

But then, with eight minutes of football left before penalties, West Ham finally broke the deadlock and broke the hearts of the Shrewsbury players and fans. Reece Burke, one of the youngsters thrown into the team by David Moyes, thundered a shot in off the underside of the crossbar from just inside the box. And West Ham turned what could have been a disastrous evening into merely a tiring one.

Toni Martinez attempts an overhead kick for West Ham (Getty)

West Ham probably deserved to win the game on the balance of play, but it took plenty of time for them to finally wear Shrewsbury down. And it took David Moyes to introduce Mark Noble and Marko Arnautovic – who set up Burke’s winner – for West Ham to really get the edge over the League One side.

In that sense it was a learning experience for a West Ham side full of youngsters. Burke, Josh Cullen and Sam Byram started along with a debut for Toni Martinez and Reece Oxford’s first game of the season.

The result was a West Ham team high on youthful energy but lacking in organisation and cohesion. They worked hard but against a well-organised Shrewsbury defence, marshalled by Aristote Nsiala and Mat Sadler, they laboured to find a way through. They created nothing from open play in the first half, and only one long-range free-kick from Manuel Lanzini troubling Dean Henderson.

Dean Henderson punches clear a dangerous West Ham delivery (Getty)

West Ham needed a brisk improvement at the start of the second half, but they still struggled to threaten from open play. Oxford nearly turned in a Lanzini corner, and West Ham had a reasonable shout for a penalty when Lanzini was tripped in the box. It felt as if the nimble Argentinean was the only player who could threaten the Shrewsbury goal, although when he belted one over from 25 yards, the first hints of anxiety from the home crowd could be heard. Anxiety that only intensified when Joe Hart had to save from Stefan Payne. It was moment when Shrewsbury had their best chance to take the lead, but it was the moment that woke West Ham up.

That was when Moyes brought on Noble and Arnautovic, who gave West Ham something extra, but not quite enough to end the game within 90 minutes. There was a late flurry: Arnautovic hit one into the side netting and another just wide from distance.

Stefan Payne reacts after a missed chance on goal (Getty)

In extra time Arnautovic became the most influential player on the pitch, up against tiring opponents. At the end of the first half West Ham had their best chance yet: Arnautovic played in Lanzini who cleverly shifted away from the defence to make himself an easy chance, only for substitute James Bolton to heroically block on the line with his stomach.

But Shrewsbury were clearly exhausted and in the second half they could not get out of their box. It was just a question of West Ham finding enough space for a shot. It was Arnautovic who made the chance, hooking the ball back in from the byline. He found Burke, lurking on the edge of the box, and he thundered a shot in off the underside of the bar. West Ham finally had the lead and, after that long waiting, they were not going to lose it.