The first half of West Ham United’s FA Cup clash with Manchester City was defined by two key moments.
Yaya Touré put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot after Angelo Ogbonna was ruled to have fouled Pablo Zabaleta, a decision which the Italian defender protested strongly.
GOAL! The first goal of the #EmiratesFACup third round goes to @ManCity, as @YayaToure coverts from the spot. pic.twitter.com/PoK7Zj7hxN
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) January 6, 2017
And just a couple of minutes later, the home side had a great chance to equalise, only for Sofiane Feghouli to fire wide of an open goal after Willy Caballero had palmed away an effort from Michail Antonio.
A Håvard Nordtveit own goal and a David Silva finish gave Pep Guardiola’s team a 3-0 lead at the break, making the Algerian’s miss even more costly.
Feghouli was only starting because the London club had won their appeal against the red card he was shown against Manchester United on Monday – the fourth time they have had a red rescinded since the start of the 2015/16 season.
And plenty of people wondered if West Ham would have been better off letting Mike Dean’s refereeing decision go unchallenged.
West Ham fans currently wishing Feghouli's ban wasn't overturned
— Ibrahim Mustapha (@IbrahimMustapha) January 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/_CarltonCole9/status/817468329229250561
https://twitter.com/tedwhufc/status/817470946164506625
Feghouli is gonna wish that red card still held haha. What an awful player.
— 𝕬𝖉𝖆𝖒 (@MrAdamLangford) January 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/Jaack/status/817469623155195904
https://twitter.com/GingerJos/status/817469341532831744
