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Haller lifts West Ham gloom, Palace crash out of League Cup

Thursday, September 17th, 2020 00:00 | By
Charlton’s English midfielder George Lapslie (left) vies with West Ham United’s Brazilian midfielder Felipe Anderson (right) during their English League Cup second round match at The London Stadium in east London on Tuesday night. Photo/AFP

London, Wednesday

Sebastien Haller eased West Ham’s woes with a double in their 3-0 victory over Charlton in the League Cup second round, while Crystal Palace were knocked out by Bournemouth after a marathon penalty shoot-out on Tuesday.

French striker Haller scored twice in four minutes midway through the first half and Felipe Anderson added a late third for David Moyes’ troubled side.

It was a much-needed result for the Hammers, who face Leeds or Hull in the third round, after they started the Premier League season with a dismal 2-0 home defeat against Newcastle on Saturday.

That limp surrender came after fan protests against co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan, while West Ham captain Mark Noble criticised the club’s lack of ambition following the sale of promising midfielder Grady Diangana to West Bromwich Albion.

With Arsenal, Wolves, Leicester, Tottenham, Manchester City and Liverpool on West Ham’s immediate fixture schedule, it was vital to avoid an embarrassing exit against third-tier Charlton at the London Stadium.

“Probably the only disappointment is we should have won more comfortably,” Moyes said.

“But Seb getting a couple of goals will be good for his confidence. We had Michail Antonio scoring for us at the end of last season and now we hope Seb gets on a run of scoring goals.”

Jack Wilshere was absent from the West Ham squad despite 10 changes made by Moyes, with the club reportedly wanting to sell the injury-prone midfielder.

Bournemouth goalkeeper Asmir Begovic missed a spot-kick but still finished as the hero in the Championship club’s 11-10 penalty shoot-out win over Premier League side Crystal Palace.

After a goalless 90 minutes at the Vitality Stadium, Begovic saw his penalty saved by Wayne Hennessey.

It was the first miss out of 21 penalties but, after Hennessey blazed over the crossbar, Begovic saved from Palace captain Luka Milivojevic to give Bournemouth a trip to holders Manchester City.

Jack Grealish celebrated his new Aston Villa contract by scoring in their 3-1 win at League One side Burton Albion.  -AFP

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