West Ham striker Paolo Di Canio became the latest to suffer the penalty nightmare which originally engulfed Gareth Southgate as Aston Villa completed a remarkable revival from the dead to reach the Worthington Cup semi-finals.
Having apparently knocked Villa out of this tie once, West Ham were unable to
do the same a second time when the sides met again in the replay which had been
ordered when it was found that the Hammers fielded an ineligible player.
There was an overwhelming feeling of deja vu as - just like the original game
- this was a pulsating cup tie with a late equaliser, extra-time and a
shattering penalty miss.
Southgate may have missed the crucial effort in the original penalty shoot-out
yet he found redemption when he set up Ian Taylor to put his side - who had been
trailing to Frank Lampard's lob just after half-time - level with 10 minutes of
normal time left.
And after Julian Joachim struck in extra-time, it was Di Canio - who scored an
injury-time penalty equaliser in the first game - whose spot-kick miss cost West
Ham dear as David James dived low to his right to tip the Italian's
weakly-struck effort around the post.
Taylor completed the great escape in the dying seconds as he finally put the
tie, which first kicked off on December 15, beyond any doubt with his second
goal - and this time there was no chance of a reprieve for the losers.
Having dreamed of Wembley and the millions of pounds which a European place
would bring, the Hammers were therefore left counting the cost of the
administrative error surrounding Manny Omoyimni's brief yet ultimately fatal
appearance in the original tie.
For unbeknown to West Ham, the striker had already played for Gillingham in a
previous round and Villa, who have already beaten the 'lucky losers' in the FA
Cup in an increasingly bizarre season, were granted a replay.
Both sides had lost the services of a striker - Paulo Wanchope for West Ham
and Dion Dublin for Villa - since then yet their fortunes had differed markedly
in the meantime, with the visitors resurgent and the home side faltering.
Indeed Villa were almost ahead on 17 minutes when Joachim turned and shot
first-time towards the far corner and the ball seemed inexorably goalbound until
it struck the inside of the post and rebounded to safety.
The visitors increasingly dominated play from then on, with Joachim's
ostensibly lone strike role giving them a clear advantage in midfield, and the
Hammers were forced to shift formation back to their customary back-three.
That gave them a better balance and Di Canio produced a dazzling flicked pass
to put through strike partner Trevor Sinclair.
While the winger went down in the penalty area under the challenge of Gareth
Barry, referee Jeff Winter, who was showing considerable reluctance to book
anyone, was unmoved.
West Ham eventually managed to up the tempo as they regained control of
possession and they were ahead three minutes after the restart after Villa had
failed to cut out a crossfield ball and Steve Lomas had found Lampard in space
to bear down on goal.
James committed himself too far forward without having a realistic chance of
reaching the ball, but it still took a measured lobbed finish by Lampard over
the keeper's head to apply the finishing touch.
Soon afterwards, Di Canio twisted and turned on the byline before crossing for
Lomas to test James' reactions, while an impudently skilful run by Joe Cole
ended with him shooting too close to the Villa keeper before then wasting a
breakaway.
By then, Villa had brought on both Darius Vassell and Alan Thompson, yet with
George Boateng heading wide, the result seemed beyond much doubt - just like the
first game when the visitors seized an injury-time lead.
Yet again though there was a late equaliser when Thompson's deep corner was
met by Southgate and he headed the ball back to Taylor who volleyed fiercely
into the net.
Villa lived dangerously when James rushed out of his area to head clear.
But Villa came even closer when Taylor headed wide after a storming run by
Steve Stone and Thompson's long-range effort was well tipped over by Hislop.
And so again to extra-time.
This time, Villa struck first with Barry's free-kick being back-headed by Ugo
Ehiogu towards Joachim, who sneaked in behind the massed Hammers' ranks to flick
his header past Shaka Hislop from close range.
It was only a few minutes though before Lomas set through Di Canio and the
Italian was brought down by James, only for the keeper to redeem himself
immediately by saving the ensuing spot-kick.
West Ham desperately threw defender Neil Ruddock up front in the final stages
but after James had saved well from Cole, Taylor ran unchallenged through the
remnants of the home side's defence to strike the final nail in the coffin.
This time there was no chance of a comeback - apart from the ironic timing of
Villa's visit to Upton Park in the Premier League on Saturday of course.
Teams
West Ham: Hislop, Potts (Ruddock 91), Ferdinand, Stimac, Lomas,
Foe, Lampard, Cole, Minto, Sinclair (Keller 116), Di Canio.
Subs Not Used: Bywater, Carrick, Margas.
Booked: Lampard, Stimac, Di Canio.
Goals: Lampard 47.
Aston Villa: James, Barry, Southgate, Ehiogu, Wright,
Boateng (Calderwood 102), Taylor, Stone, Watson (Thompson 68),
Joachim, Merson (Vassell 57).
Subs Not Used: Cutler, Delaney.
Booked: Taylor.
Goals: Taylor 80, Joachim 93, Taylor 118.
After Extra Time
Att: 25,592
Ref: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).
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