Tati Castellanos scored his first goal for West Ham to end a 10-game winless streak with a 2-1 extra-time victory over Championship side Queens Park Rangers in the third round of the FA Cup.
Striker Castellanos, a £25.2m signing from Lazio last week, scored in the first half of extra-time to earn a first win since beating Burnley 3-2 in the Premier League on November 8.
West Ham’s under-pressure boss Nuno Espirito Santo smiled in relief as he had to wait 32 minutes for his side to strike, while Chrisencio Summerville forced Joe Walsh into a superb save.
But Summerville were not to be denied in the first half after the home side’s centre-back Konstantinos Mavropanos was hauled down, leading to added time nine minutes from time. Summerville struck in the tenth, smashing in from close range.
QPR hit back midway through the second half, however, when Richard Kone glanced Karamoko Dembele’s cross over Mads Hermansen.
West Ham were the better side from then on, but could not prevent the tie from going into extra time. They finally went ahead again when Summerville took a brilliant turn from Jimmy Dunn on the left before crossing for Castellanos to head home.
Bowen: We’ll need more goals from Castellanos
Tati Castellanos gives West Ham a 2-1 lead against QPR
West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen told TNT Sports:
“Really important. When you’re in our situation, all you need is a performance, a result that will turn the season around. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy going into this game. A lot of pressure on us to perform and deliver, and it took 120 minutes.
“It says a lot about the team that we stuck in there, kept going and going and going and got our rewards.”
About Tata Castellanos: “He comes with a lot of experience, he’s a really good player and person. He’s played two games and scored today so happy.
“Getting his first goal so soon is really good for confidence. I’m really happy for him because we’re going to need him to score more goals.”