Potter’s spell starts with FA Cup exit as Aston Villa battle back to beat West Ham

Perhaps it is a sign of class to have played so poorly only to end up as the match-winner but Aston Villa fans will not mind after Morgan Rogers, having endured a night he looked likely to want to forget, scored the goal that deflated the early signs of Graham Potter’s sorcery.

The new West Ham United manager, who had one training session with his players after signing a two-and-a-half-year contract to succeed Julen Lopetgui on the eve of this match, will have to wait until next week’s Premier League games with Fulham and Crystal Palace to see if he can pull them away from the relegation zone.

But they impressed while leading through Lucas Paquetá’s early goal, only for Villa to warm up to the challenge on a night of sub-zero temperatures in the West Midlands and equalise through Amadou Onana. The Champions League side rallied to win only their second FA Cup game in nine years.

While Villa were commemorating their 150th anniversary by walking out in the black shirts that their predecessors played in, West Ham came flying out, in their unnecessary white away kit, unrecognisable from the team that had led Lopetegui down a rabbit role.

Potter may have only had one training session with his new charges but his impact on this game was immediate. Barely 40 seconds had elapsed when Paquetá, at the end of a flowing West Ham move started by Lukasz Fabianski, unleashed a superb shot that was as narrowly wide of the post as it was close to the crossbar, with Robin Olsen beaten.

It was no fluke either as West Ham continued on the front foot, deserving their ninth-minute lead. The goal was right from the Potter playbook, combining pragmatism with attacking precision. Max Kilman received Fabianski’s ball out and played a deliberate pass up for Niclas Füllkrug to head back for Mohammed Kudus, who chested the ball down before striking it on the rise out wide to Crysencio Summerville.

View image in fullscreen Graham Potter organises his West Ham team in front of the Aston Villa manager Unai Emery. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

The former Leeds winger took a few purposeful strides before pulling his pass, low and square, across for Paquetá to sidefoot home, back into the corner away from Olsen’s momentum.

Emiliano Martínez had spoken in the buildup to the game about his desire for Villa to win a cup so the world’s best goalkeeper, left out as one of three changes to the side that beat Leicester 2-1 last weekend, must have been cursing; not that there was much Olsen could have done.

In only the 13th minute however Füllkrug pulled up as he sprinted forward in pursuit of a long clearance, then immediately signalled to the bench to come off, which he duly did, clutching his hamstring. On came Danny Ings, the former Villa striker.

This was Villa’s 29th game of the season, and their second of a packed January containing seven matches across three competitions. It was to their credit that the seven-times FA Cup winners started with such a strong lineup, but that was also curtailed early on as Ross Barkley, feeling his ankle, had to be replaced by Onana.

Villa gradually edged their way into the match, starting to dominate possession, but they were stodgy with their passing and decision-making. While West Ham defended strategically, with Summerville effectively playing right wing-back out of possession, outside Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

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Summerville had received treatment during the first half and was the next to go off but, while Vladimir Coufal came on at right-back, the change also had Potter’s print all over it, as Wan-Bissaka moved higher up the field out of possession to the right of three behind Ings.

Villa though upped the ante as the game approached the final quarter, Youri Tielemans shooting wide from the edge of the area before Ian Maatsen finally forced Fabianski into his first save of the night in the 69th minute.

Just as Unai Emery prepared to ring the changes for the final assault – with Emiliano Buendía, Kosta Nedeljkovic and Jacob Ramsey lined up to come on – Onana equalised.

West Ham could complain that Villa should not have been awarded a corner in the first place. But from the delivery, Tyrone Mings flicked on, Ezri Konsa played the ball back and Maatsen’s shot was deflected into Fabianski by Tomas Soucek, inviting Onana to stab home the rebound. So the novel prospect of third-round extra time beckoned, but only briefly.

Villa were now resurgent and when Ollie Watkins ran into the inside-left channel to receive Buendía’s pass, the England striker placed his low near-post cross perfectly for Rogers to sidefoot home from close range.

Ramsey smashed a shot against a post as Villa looked to finish strongly, seeking a rare place in the fourth round of this competition.

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