AFC Wimbledon 4 West Ham 2: Pellegrini suffers cup shock against League One strugglers

West Ham were stunned in the fourth round of the FA Cup as they suffered a 4-2 defeat to third-tier AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.

Wally Downes’ side, who sit bottom of League One and are eight points from safety, inflicted one of the biggest cup shocks on the Hammers in recent years thanks to a superb performance at Kingsmeadow.

Wimbledon deservedly went ahead in the 34th minute when Kwesi Appiah converted coolly from six yards out, and it was 2-0 before half-time thanks to a slick finish from Scott Wagstaff, who had been allowed to stride unchallenged towards goal.

Manuel Pellegrini made three changes at the break, with Felipe Anderson among those introduced, but Wagstaff flicked Appiah’s cross into the bottom-right corner to make it 3-0 less than a minute after the restart.

2 – Scott Wagstaff has scored his first ever brace in professional football; he had scored just two goals in his last 44 appearances in all competitions before today. Upset. #FACup pic.twitter.com/fxx1wkDNfv

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 26, 2019

Lucas Perez blasted home 57 minutes in as West Ham at last began to build some sustained attacking threat, and when Felipe Anderson’s curling free-kick beat goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale at his near post, the comeback looked to be on.

However, a clever passing move down the left allowed Anthony Wordsworth to cross for Toby Sibbick to head in a fourth in the 88th minute and send a jubilant Wimbledon into the fifth-round draw.

4 – West Ham have conceded four goals in a single #FACup game against a side from the third tier or below for the first time since January 1936 when they lost 4-0 to Luton Town in a third round replay. Shock. pic.twitter.com/9N5GpOiP0v

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 26, 2019