For West Ham’s second string, barring a shock defeat this could hardly have been a more uncomfortable ride. With the captain, Jarrod Bowen, among the clutch of regulars given a breather, it was Crysencio Summerville, a late substitute Nuno Espírito Santo would have rather kept fresh, who spared embarrassment at Burton Albion and helped them into the FA Cup fifth round. Four years ago at Kidderminster in this competition it was Declan Rice who came on to save their skin and it was a similar story here, Summerville’s extra-time strike ultimately preventing penalties.
West Ham squeezed through, Freddie Potts’s red card 11 minutes into extra time for crunching into Julian Larsson ensuring a nervy finale. A couple of nearly-moments may linger; in the final seconds, at which point these teams had been slogging it out for 133 minutes, the substitute Kain Adom saw an effort repelled by Alphonse Areola and Kegs Chauke, another sub, skittled the rebound into the side-netting to gasps.
