WEST HAM WILL face Liverpool at Anfield in the third round of the Carabao Cup after Jarrod Bowen’s late, lucky strike earned them a 1-0 win over Bournemouth.
A penalty shoot-out was looming at the London Stadium until England forward Bowen found the net two minutes from the end.
A shot from substitute Mohammed Kudus hit the chest of Bowen and flew past Cherries keeper Neto to send the Hammers through.
The final touch may have come off Bowen’s elbow, which will no doubt stick in the craw of Bournemouth who had a stoppage-time goal disallowed by VAR against Newcastle for handball on Sunday.
With no VAR in operation in the early rounds of this competition, the goal stood.
It ended a contest low on quality despite West Ham handing full debuts to almost £100million-worth of summer signings.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Jean-Clair Todibo, Niclas Fullkrug and Crysencio Summerville all started for the hosts.
But it was only the impressive Wan-Bissaka, the £15million recruit from Manchester United, who was still on at the end after a distinctly mixed bag of performances.
Elsewhere, goalkeeper Owen Goodman was AFC Wimbledon’s hero as the League Two side dumped Premier League Ipswich out of the Carabao Cup on penalties following a 2-2 draw. Wimbledon will host 2022/23 finalists Newcastle in the third round.
Ali Al-Hamadi, who joined Ipswich from Wimbledon in January, scored the opener for Wimbledon but Omar Bugiel equalised for hosts Ipswich just before half-time.
Mathew Stevens gave the hosts a 2-1 lead in the 56th minute but Conor Chaplin capitalised on a Goodman mistake in the closing stages to send the match to penalties.
Ipswich were on course to go through when Jake Reeves fired over the crossbar.
However, Goodman made two stunning saves from Jack Taylor and Omari Hutchinson before Isaac Ogundere scored the decisive spot-kick.
Republic of Ireland international Chiedozie Ogbene started the game for Ipswich on the same day on which his move from Luton was confirmed.
At the City Ground, meanwhile, Sandro Tonali made an impressive return from his 10-month betting ban on a night that ended with an awful Taiwo Awoniyi spot-kick as Newcastle knocked Nottingham Forest on penalties.
The build-up to Wednesday’s second-round tie revolved around the 24-year-old midfielder making his first competitive appearance since serving a worldwide suspension for breaching gambling rules in Italy.
Tonali showed flashes of his quality as he stepped out for Newcastle for the first time in 308 days and was involved in the build-up to Joe Willock’s opener after just 18 seconds.
Home debutant Jota Silva lashed Forest level early in the second half and the tie ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, with Eddie Howe’s visitors triumphing 4-3 on spot-kicks.
Carabao Cup second-round results
- Wolves 2-0 Burnley
- AFC Wimbledon 2-2 Ipswich (AFC Wimbledon won 4-2 on pens)
- West Ham 1-0 Bournemouth
- Colchester 0-1 Brentford
- Cardiff City 3-5 Southampton
- Swansea 0-1 Wycombe
- Nottingham Forest 1-1 Newcastle (Newcastle won 4-3 on pens)
Carabao Cup third-round draw
(Ties to be played on week of 17 September)
- Liverpool v West Ham
- Manchester City v Watford
- Arsenal v Bolton Wanderers
- Manchester United v Barnsley
- Wycombe v Aston Villa
- Coventry City v Tottenham Hotspur
- Walsall v Leicester City
- Brentford v Leyton Orient
- Blackpool v Sheffield Wednesday
- Preston North End v Fulham
- Everton v Southampton
- QPR v Crystal Palace
- Stoke City v Fleetwood
- Brighton v Wolves
- AFC Wimbledon v Newcastle United
- Chelsea v Barrow
