FA Cup: burton vs west ham — Summerville settles grinding tie in extra time
West Ham advanced to the FA Cup fifth round after Crysensio Summerville struck late in extra time to secure a 1-0 victory over League One side Burton at the Pirelli Stadium. The tie was a scrappy, low-quality affair that hinged on a narrow late moment and a sending-off that added controversy to a match of few clear chances.
How the tie played out
Burton began the tie brightly and arguably dominated the first half, creating better openings and appealing for what they felt was a clear penalty when Mavropanos and Beesley collided in the box. The referee declined to award spot-kick, a decision the home side felt was pivotal. West Ham grew into the match after the break but rarely produced a sustained spell of control or a string of genuine scoring opportunities.
As the game drifted toward extra time, both teams struggled to fashion clear-cut chances. That pattern changed when Summerville, introduced from the bench, produced a moment of quality in the added minutes of extra time. Cutting inside and working a narrow angle, his shot took a deflection and nestled past the keeper to separate the teams at ET30+1. The strike delivered the result West Ham needed in a contest that had offered little else.
Key moments and controversy
The match featured a handful of defining incidents. Burton’s penalty appeal in the first half — when Beesley was involved in a challenge with Mavropanos — was the clearest flashpoint early on; the home supporters and players were adamant it should have been given, and the decision shaped the narrative of a game in which Burton felt hard done by.
Discipline also became a talking point late on. Freddie Potts was shown a straight red for a rash challenge in extra time, reducing Burton to ten men at a critical juncture and compounding the pressure on the hosts. In the final moments, a scramble and brief melee led to a flurry of yellow cards, the Burton goalkeeper even venturing into the West Ham penalty area during a late set-piece push. Those closing scenes underlined the desperation of the lower-league side and the thin margin between heroics and heartbreak in knockout football.
From West Ham’s perspective, the margin for error was slim. The visitors were far from convincing but did enough when it mattered, and the substitute’s intervention provided the decisive spark. For Burton, the result will be a bitter pill: they dominated periods and felt they had enough to force a different outcome, yet came away empty-handed.
Aftermath and what it means next
The win sends West Ham into the last 16 of the competition, while Burton must regroup and refocus on their League One campaign after a performance that offered encouraging signs despite the defeat. The captured moments — a disallowed penalty shout, a late sending-off and a deflected extra-time winner — will linger longer in Burton’s dressing room than any positives from the scoreboard.
For West Ham, progression is the priority in a competition where margins are tiny. The manner of the victory will not silence questions about creativity and cutting edge, but in knockout football, advancing is the measure that counts. Burton, meanwhile, can point to their bravery and the time they spent in the ascendancy as something to build on during the league run-in.
In a tie that will be remembered more for its drama than its quality, Summerville’s late intervention ensured the Premier League side avoided a major upset, but the storylines that emerged — contentious officiating decisions, a costly red card and a single decisive intervention — will be debated by both sets of supporters in the days ahead.
