West Ham United crashed out of the Carabao Cup at the third round stage on Wednesday night after a penalty shootout defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
Following a 2-2 draw in 90 minutes, where Pablo Fornals and Michail Antonio scored in between strikes from Jack Vale and Ben Brereton Diaz, a penalty shootout followed where after 19 consecutive perfect spot-kicks, Hammers centre-back Angelo Ogbonna saw his effort denied by the crossbar to give Rovers a 10-9 shootout victory.
For West Ham, it was the first time they had exited a cup competition under David Moyes to lower league opposition since January 2020, just weeks after Moyes’ second spell at the club began.
READ MORE: West Ham player ratings: Pablo Fornals stars as Blackburn Rovers seal penalty shootout win
Defeat made it back-to-back losses at home for the first time since May in all competitions, having won six on the spin at the London Stadium prior to defeats to Crystal Palace and Rovers.
In a bad night for London football, West Ham were one of five Premier League clubs from London to be eliminated, with League One Charlton Athletic now the only capital side in the last 16 of the competition.
Regardless of whatever happens in Thursday night’s final tie between Manchester United and Aston Villa, just 10 of the teams in the last 16 of the competition will be from the Premier League and it sums up how good of a chance this cup could have been for West Ham had they won their tie.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur all exited in Wednesday’s other games with defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest respectively, with three of the six clubs who finished above the Hammers last season all out. That could rise to four should Villa beat Man United on Thursday.
With there being a 26.7% chance of facing a side from League One or below, increased to 33.3% of facing a lower league side when you include Championship side Burnley, there was a potentially favourable route to the latter stages of this competition.
The winners of this season’s Carabao Cup gets qualification into next season’s Europa Conference League and considering West Ham currently sit 15th in the Premier League, this could have been a more direct and easier option of trying to make it three straight seasons in Europe next term.
Yes, West Ham needed to make changes for the game to prioritise the Premier League, but after 11 changes, they still fielded a complete side of senior players and one consisting of players that have played in the Europa Conference League all season and won all eight in that competition.
Obviously there was no way of knowing other results, but even so, the defeat wasted what could have been an alternative route into Europe, with a top seven finish looking a pipe dream right now based on current form.
At least there is the bonus of no extra games in this competition and a few days extra rest before the Boxing Day trip to Arsenal. However, the chance to build confidence, return to winning ways and a potential other route into European football next season have all been wasted.
READ NEXT:
David Moyes’ future, Jarrod Bowen’s World Cup place, Said Benrahma - West Ham behind the scenes
West Ham announce December friendly against Premier League rivals ahead of Arsenal clash
The UEFA ranking that puts West Ham above Juventus, Barcelona, Lazio, Roma and Celtic
West Ham end 189-day wait for victory against Wolves as Divin Mubama continues form
West Ham confirm major academy change amid Stoke City move as former defender takes new role
