Surprise, Championship Team Bristol City Beat West Ham in FA Cup Replay

Pemain sayap Bristol City Tommy Conway merayakan gol yang membawa tim menyingkirkan West Ham United di Piala FA. (X/@BristolCity)

JAKARTA - Championship team Bristol City is really making things difficult for Premier League team West Ham United. In the third round replay of the FA Cup at Ashton Gate Stadium, Wednesday, January 17, Western Indonesian Time (WIB), West Ham was forced to surrender 1-0.

West Ham's failure was a surprise in the FA Cup. Bristol, which actually occupies a position in the middle of the second tier of the English League, has become a nightmare for West Ham, who is currently ranked sixth in the English Premier League standings.

In the duel in the third round, Bristol forced the Hammers to replay. In the match which was held at West Ham's home ground at the London Stadium, they managed to hold themselves to a 1-1 draw.

Young star Tommy Conway scored a goal for The Robins so a replay had to be carried out.

During the rematch, Conway again became a nightmare for West Ham. This quick goal from Bristol's winger, created after only three minutes of the game, made West Ham bite their teeth.

Conway was able to take advantage of a West Ham player's bad backpass which was captured to break into Lukasz Fabianski's goal.

West Ham actually tried to catch up on goals by playing aggressively. However, their attacks always failed to penetrate the host's sturdy defense.

In a trailing position, West Ham actually lost a player at the start of the second half. Midfielder Said Benrahma received a red card for kicking Joe Williams in the 51st minute.

Playing with 10 people, West Ham also had difficulty equalizing the score. The final score remained 1-0 Bristol.

"Obviously the goal that made us winners was truly extraordinary. Moreover, this was achieved in front of our supporters who filled the stadium. This result is what we have dreamed of all this time," said Conway in response to the team's victory.

"Facing a Premier League team is a dream for us. Of course we hope this continues in the next match," he said.

Meanwhile, West Ham manager David Moyes admitted he was disappointed. This is the first time since 2017 that the West London club has been eliminated in the early rounds.

"It's really disappointing. Everything didn't go as expected. We overall feel disappointed," said Moyes.

In the fourth round, Bristol will again meet another team from the Premier League, Nottingham Forest, if they beat Blackpool, who are competing in the third division. Blackpool themselves also forced Forest to replay.

In another match, Luton Town, who are in the Premier League relegation zone, escaped the threat of hosts Bolton Wanderers in a duel at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

This club from the second division had taken the lead, but Luton was able to turn things around and win 2-1.

Luton, who is currently ranked 18th or at the top of the relegation zone, has also qualified for the fourth round of the FA Cup.