West Ham United saw off League Two side Newport County in the second round of the League Cup on Tuesday night.
Goals from Jack Wilshere and Pablo Fornals in either half secured the victory for Manuel Pellegrini’s side at Rodney Parade.
The duo were opening their goalscoring accounts for the Hammers, and they proved crucial as the London Stadium outfit look to go far in the Cup competition this term.
Newport had established themselves as specialists in causing upsets in the competition of recent, putting Leicester City and Leeds United to the sword and almost shocking Tottenham Hotspur last term.
They proved difficult to break down, putting in an impressive shift in the opening 45 minutes and coming close to scoring on a few occasions.
Despite seeing only 27% of the possession, they managed to register 13 shots – one lesser than West Ham’s – with four of them on target.
Pellegrini made 10 changes to the side that saw off Watford at the weekend, with Sebastien Haller making way for Albian Ajeti.
The Switzerland international wasn’t able to replicate the heroics of his French counterpart who bagged a brace against the Hornets, though, but he did show flashes of his quality.
Despite been on the bench all game, Haller has taken to Twitter to appreciate the travelling West Ham fans for their support:
Thanks you all for the support ⚒⚒⚒ https://t.co/kVovwlGbGA
— Sébastien Haller (@HallerSeb) August 28, 2019
The 25-year-old has scored twice in as many appearances for West Ham since arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt for a club-record £45 million transfer fee during the summer window, and could prove crucial in their plans to break into the top-seven this term.
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