{"id":407984,"date":"2026-01-12T09:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T09:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/407984\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T09:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T09:12:09","slug":"taty-castellanos-edges-west-ham-past-qpr-in-fa-cup-to-offer-respite-for-nuno-fa-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/407984\/","title":{"rendered":"Taty Castellanos edges West Ham past QPR in FA Cup to offer respite for Nuno | FA Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forget the magic of the FA Cup<\/a>, for West Ham the reality of what is soon likely to be a Championship fixture \u2013 an indicator that life in the second tier will be no cakewalk. That QPR took them to extra time will do little for Nuno Esp\u00edrito Santo\u2019s standing, despite a first win since 8 November.<\/p>\n

There were, though, positives to take in the performance of Taty \u00adCastellanos, the Argentinian striker who scored the Hammers\u2019 winning goal. Have West Ham at last ended a search for a striker that has lasted almost as long as their London Stadium tenancy? They have looked everywhere.<\/p>\n

The other goalscorer, Crysencio Summerville, who supplied the assist for the winner, put in one of his better West Ham performances, too. For one cold afternoon only, the Cup drew a veil over Premier League concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels really nice, so good, really good,\u201d Nuno said, his wait of 64 days for a win ended. \u201cGoals change everything. It\u2019s going to change our week. We can make a step forward. Everything is going to feel better.\u201d Here was uncharacteristic optimism after fresh embarrassment had been averted.<\/p>\n

Cheap ticket deals, including kids for a quid, meant the stadium was nowhere near as empty as during the midweek defeat against \u00adNottingham Forest. Youthful voices roared on their Hammers anti-heroes. The contingents from west London were in full voice, too. \u201cWe\u2019ll see you all next year,\u201d the QPR<\/a> crew sang. They have much to tell their east London brethren about supporting a club where Premier League dreams fade to subsistence in the second tier. Their manager, Julien St\u00e9phan, afterwards expressed his pride in \u201cpushing a Premier League team until extra time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Among the home fans, the mood was mutinous, as is habitual, with red\u2011card protests against the steward\u00adship of David Sullivan and Karren Brady, both sets of \u00adsupporters uniting in the now traditional chorus of the club selling its soul by \u00admoving to the former Olympic Stadium. West\u00a0Ham\u2019s form, and a terrible third\u2011round record \u2013 no club has lost more ties at this stage than the \u00adHammers \u2013 gave considerable grounds for optimism.<\/p>\n

Crysencio Summerville fires West Ham in front at the end of the first half. Photograph: Ian Stephen\/Every Second Media\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The closest anyone came amid early tedium was a stooping header from Rayan Kolli, a buzzy Rangers youth product. West Ham\u2019s first shot did not arrive until the 32nd minute, Summerville cutting inside to force a save from Joe Walsh. Both teams suffered the loss of personnel in that \u00adgruelling first half, Rangers\u2019 Koki Saito departing with a muscle problem. West Ham lost \u00adKonstantinos Mavropanos to a neck injury that required a motorised stretcher and added nine minutes to the half. \u201cA nasty one,\u201d said Nuno. \u201cWe need to assesss him for a couple of days. Hopefully he will be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bringing on Pablo Felip as Mavropanos\u2019s replacement ripped up Nuno\u2019s five-man defensive plan, the other new signing \u00adpartnering \u00adCastellanos to mirror Rangers\u2019 4\u20114\u20112, adding old-school vibes to a time\u2011honoured capital city derby. The veteran Steve Cook, partnering with the similarly robust Jimmy Dunne in the Rangers defence, threw in a fine blocking tackle to deny Castellanos.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideFA Cup roundup: Norwich rout Walsall despite Sargent rowShow\"\"<\/p>\n

Philippe Clement claimed Josh Sargent refused to play in Norwich\u2019s 5-1 FA Cup victory over Walsall \u2013 but insisted the USA striker would not be leaving Carrow Road during the transfer window.<\/p>\n

The Canaries dominated their League Two opponents from start to finish, with Jovon Makama (pictured) leading the way with a hat-trick to take his tally for the season to 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh sent me a message yesterday evening saying he would not be available because of transfer things in his head,\u201d Clement said of a player linked with a move to Major League Soccer\u2019s Toronto. \u201cThis is obviously not something we want, and will have consequences \u2026 The club has made it really clear to Josh and his agent that he will not be leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nigel Clough praised the way his Mansfield team rewarded their supporters in their 4-3 victory at Sheffield United. Louis Reed scored twice against his old club, with Lucas Akins and Rhys Oates also on target, while United\u2019s goals came from Gus Hamer, Patrick Bamford and a Nathan Moriah-Welsh own goal. The hosts had a penalty appeal waved away late on when Bamford went down under a challenge.<\/p>\n

Clough said: \u201cWhen you bring nearly 5,000 fans, although it\u2019s just up the road, there\u2019s a responsibility to put on a performance and have a go, and the players certainly did that. I thought the quality of the four goals we scored \u2013 their first one as well \u2013 was outstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

United boss Chris Wilder was left to rue \u201cindividual errors\u201d which proved costly. He said: \u201cMore than disappointing. I didn\u2019t pick a team to get knocked out of the cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ollie Bostock kept his cool to hammer home the winning penalty in a shootout win at Swansea to bring to an end West Brom\u2019s run of 10 successive away defeats. Having set up a goal for Jed Wallace in extra time to give his side a 2-1 lead, he hit the target following three successive misses to make it\u00a06-5 in the shootout after the teams had\u00a0been locked at 2-2 after extra\u00a0time.<\/p>\n

Dillon Phillips was the hero as Hull defeated Blackburn 4-3 on penalties after a drab goalless draw. Phillips saved Rovers\u2019 first two attempts from Yuki Ohashi and Moussa Baradji. Hull\u2019s Lewie Coyle was thwarted by Blackburn\u2019s Balazs Toth but Kyle Joseph, Oli McBurnie, Charlie Hughes and David Akintola were all on target. PA Media<\/p>\n

Photograph: Shaun Brooks\/CameraSport<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

West Ham had at last found momentum. Pablo Felipe set off on a run and with Castellanos\u2019s help, held off Dunne. Following that, Soungoutou Magassa set up Summerville to score a goal on half-time. Positives in two January signings playing their part, though Summerville registering only his second Hammers goal is an indicator of the success of the club\u2019s other recent transfer business.<\/p>\n

More will follow, according to Nuno. \u201cWe still need players \u00adcoming in that can help us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe always want them to come in as soon as possible but it is a tricky transfer situation in which to operate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kolli and Richard Kone, QPR\u2019s attacking duo, were more often found chasing down opposition possession than their own team\u2019s attacks. West Ham failed to heed prior warnings. Karamoko Demb\u00e9l\u00e9\u2019s lithe turn of foot and pirouette opened space, and his cross was met by Kone to nod home. \u201cIt was an amazing moment,\u201d St\u00e9phan said of the celebrations. \u201cFor a moment I felt I was in Loftus Road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither team pushed recklessly to reach the fourth round in regulation time. Rangers found chances hard to come by, Kone having only a half chance after more good work from the lively Kolli, whose loss to injury was a blow.<\/p>\n

Extra time arrived, with West\u00a0Ham trying far harder to avoid a shootout. Summerville\u2019s speedy run to the line\u00a0and his good cross found \u00adCastellanos in prime position to nod home the\u00a0winner.<\/p>\n

Positive signs indeed. West Ham will require many more in the coming months to avoid a reunion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forget the magic of the FA Cup, for West Ham the reality of what is soon likely to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-407984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}