Everton pounced on a late mix-up in the West Ham defence to move into the Carling Cup semi-finals after a 2-1 win.
Yakubu scores late winner to send Everton through
Everton pounced on a late mix-up in the West Ham United defence to move into the Carling Cup semi-finals after a 2-1 win at Upton Park.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni was in the right position to score the winner two minutes from time after Danny Gabbidon and Robert Green had got in a muddle.
Earlier, West Ham had taken the lead when Carlton Cole took advantage of a lack of communication in the Everton defence to score on 12 minutes.
But the visitors were level before half-time when Leon Osman showed good awareness to curl home a shot from the edge of the box.
Everton applied some early pressure in East London, with Yakubu heading wide of the upright from Mikel Arteta's cross.
But slack defending from Everton allowed Cole the opportunity to put the Hammers ahead on 12 minutes.
The visiting back-line stopped to watch Lucas Neill's ball over the top, prompting Tim Howard to rush out into no-man's land to enable Cole to capitalise on the mistake.
There was a scarcity of chances in the first period, with Luis Boa Morte blazing over from the edge of the area, although Everton looked far more threatening in possession.
Everton levelled five minutes before half-time when Steven Pienaar picked out Osman at the edge of the box and the midfielder curled his shot around a few bodies and beyond the unsighted Green.
Before the interval, the visitors had another half-chance as Arteta's deep corner was nodded wide at the back post by Tim Cahill.
The second half was mind-numbing stuff, with neither goalkeeper severely tested by the respective attacks as Everton's bright and busy football petered out.
West Ham screamed for a penalty on the hour mark when Cole went to ground as he sought to collect Scott Parker's pass into the box, but Joleon Lescott was merely more determined to win the ball.
There was little to separate the two teams until the 88th minute when calamitous defending gifted Yakubu the winning goal.
Gabbidon dithered in clearing a long ball, allowing it to bounce into the box before heading through the hands of Green and into the path of the lurking Yakubu who tapped the ball home into the empty net to send Everton into the semi-finals.
| West Ham United |
Team Statistics |
Everton |
| 1 |
Goals |
2 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
1 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
1 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
3 |
| 4 |
Corners |
8 |
| 22 |
Fouls |
9 |
| 0 |
Offsides |
0 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 45.7 |
Possession |
54.3 |
|
