It took thirty extra minutes, but Angelo Ogbonna headed West Ham into a fifth round FA Cup fixture at Blackburn on February 21st with his 120th-minute goal in the 2-1 victory over Liverpool, a win that Slaven Bilic says is one of the greatest in West Ham’s history.
Bilic was full of emotion at the final whistle but still remembered to shake Jurgen Klopp’s hand before he went off to celebrate.
As reported by The Telegraph, the West Ham boss said the victory was one of the biggest nights in the club’s history:
There is no harm in saying it’s a special night for our club. It is a great night for West Ham. OK, it is only for the last 16, but it was a late-night kick-off, it’s against Liverpool, it’s our last season at Upton Park, it went to the 120th minute, and we scored a great header in the last second of the game. That’s why this will go down in history as one of the greatest nights, and greatest games, for our club.
The high, looping ball in by Dimitri Payet from a set piece found Ogbonna in mid-leap as he nodded in his first West Ham goal in 18 appearances. West Ham’s players piled onto Payet and Ogbonna, including Adrian from the bench, but none held on longer to Payet than Mark Noble as the prospect of a penalty shootout vanished.
Obviously, tonight you couldn’t write it. We had a similar situation last year with Everton that went to penalties, and I was thinking: ‘Where am I going to stick my penalty?’ And then Angelo pops up and saves everyone the heartache of penalties – even their players, no one likes to go out on penalties.
West Ham’s slow first half performance was saved by Michael Antonio’s 45th-minute volley that put the Hammers up 1-0, but Phillip Coutinho leveled it right after halftime when his free kick snuck under the West Ham wall.
Despite what Jurgen Klopp thought, Bilic believed the 2-1 victory at the Boleyn Ground was well deserved.
They left their heart on the pitch, and to be fair, I’m very, very proud of the boys tonight.
One such player who deserves an immense amount of credit is Antonio. Not only did he score the opening goal, he played the last 33 minutes of the match out of position as a right back after Joey O’Brien left in the 83rd minute with an injury.
Three injuries forced changes for the Hammers, with Winston Reid, Cheikhou Kouyate, and O’Brien all exiting early. Instead of fear of a setback from these injuries, Bilic believes the victory can propel West Ham into the final stretch of the season:
These kinds of victories are like pre-season. They give you a boost of energy, they give you a boost of fitness. You are like two inches taller.
There is relief for West Ham fans and players alike to get back in winning form after a tough 1-0 loss against Southampton over the weekend, which Noble addressed after the game.
Just for the fans tonight and the players’ belief, we played well last week against Southampton and we did get nothing, but tonight we matched a very good team and we’re into the next round. At the end of the day, that’s a very good Liverpool team, they’ve got a very good bench. We go out on this pitch in front of these fans and we think we can beat anyone, and I think we’ve proved that already this season. I’m so happy for Angelo, he’s come from Juventus, he’s come to England and he experiences something like that, he’ll never forget that.
Ogbonna agreed, saying:
I’m happy for my teammates, I’m happy for myself. I’m still excited. I want to enjoy this moment.
West Ham play at Norwich City on Saturday in the Premier League. The following Sunday, they will fight on in the FA Cup against Blackburn.
