SOCCER / English FA Cup / Man City 1-2 West Ham: West Ham United's jaw-dropping resurgence this season scaled new heights last night, with a side whose players largely enjoyed a weekend off in preparation for this tie - even those involved in the 4-2 home league defeat to Portsmouth - out-classing Manchester City here to progress into the last four of this competition for the first time in 15 years. Suddenly Alan Pardew's priorities appear anything but warped.
Those Londoners who packed into the away end sang in raucous celebration as Dean Ashton's brace and brawn punctured the hosts, the striker scoring in each half and displaying everything which the locals lacked.
The visitors' trademark chorus had rung out long before the end, though the only bubble which burst here was City's. Stuart Pearce will have to wait for FA Cup success, with Kiki Musampa's late volley, brilliant as it was, only partially atoning for the same player's earlier errors.
Given the emphasis both these clubs had placed on the tie - "This is the most important game of the season," Stuart Pearce declared in his programme notes - this was always likely to prove a frantic occasion, though the whirlwind tended to blow away much of the quality.
The managers, pounding their respective technical areas with Alan Pardew playfully shaping a kick at Pearce after he the City manager had sprinted along the touchline to retrieve a loose ball, added to that sense of frenzy with their theatrics as a vociferous crowd bellowed their approval. By the interval, the home manager might have felt inclined to make more emphatic contact with his opposite number's backside.
City had retreated here stunned in deficit, their early ascendancy rendered irrelevant by a player who might have been Blue. Dean Ashton had attracted tentative interest from City until Norwich's asking price rose to £7.25 million, a fee West Ham matched, with the striker emerging from the mishmash in stunning fashion just before half-time.
Ashton had actually wrestled the ball from the home side on the touchline before Matthew Etherington and Nigel Reo-Coker exchanged flicks outside of the area, the former Crewe striker then gathering possession before swerving away from Sylvain Distin and rasping a glorious left-foot shot inside David James at his near post.
What must have infuriated Pearce all the more was that, aside from a near-post flick from James Collins at Etherington's early corner which narrowly eluded Danny Gabbidon, the visitors had not mustered any other threat before bursting into the lead.
City lacked bite for all their poise on the approach to goal. Sun Jihai's weak overhead kick, nodded easily from the line by Paul Konchesky, represented a rare attempt on target for all that Musampa should have forced them ahead earlier. The Dutch midfielder had collected just 11 minutes in, Joey Barton snapping to dispossess Hayden Mullins, and trotted unchecked into West Ham's area only to lift his shot wastefully over the bar as Collins and Gabbidon darted belatedly in to block.
City's desperation was rising, their urgency matched by the furious din in the stands, though the suspicion lingered that this was not to be their night. The game had not yet reached the hour-mark when Sun Jihai tussled innocuously with Etherington on the touchline, the Chinese international flicking an arm out in frustration as his marker stood his ground to prompt Howard Webb to flash red.
As Jihai stewed in the home dressing-room he must have heard the clamour which greeted the visitors' second goal, tapped in by Ashton from Yossi Benayoun's centre with Musampa having lost possession. The Dutchman had possibly anticipated clipping the loose ball out of play with Christian Dailly prone on the turf.
MAN CITY: James, Richards, Dunne, Distin, Jordan (Sommeil 24), Jihai, Barton (Ireland 79), Musampa, Riera, Vassell, Wright-Phillips (Croft 73). Subs Not Used: Weaver, Miller. Sent Off: Jihai (56). Booked: Riera. Goals: Musampa 85.
WEST HAM: Hislop, Dailly (Scaloni 70), Gabbidon, Collins, Konchesky, Benayoun, Mullins, Reo-Coker (Fletcher 82), Etherington, Ashton (Zamora 89), Harewood. Subs Not Used: Walker, Sheringham. Booked: Reo-Coker. Goals: Ashton 41, 69.
Referee: H Webb (S Yorkshire).
