Enner Valencia should have wrapped up cup tie before suspect defending cost West Ham, says Sam Allardyce

 

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Frustrated: Allardyce felt a place in the fourth round was there for the taking
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Tom Dutton6 January 2015

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce was understandably disappointed after his side surrendered a narrow lead in the final stages at Everton on Tuesday.

Allardyce's side were 1-0 up and two minutes from a place in the FA Cup fourth round after James Collins' second-half header but the hosts kept their cup campaign alive with a 91st minute equaliser.

The Hammers boss felt his side should have defended better as Lukaku was allowed space to fire the Toffees level and send the tie to a replay at Upton Park next week.

Equaliser: Lukaku forced a replay with this injury time effort
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He also said striker Enner Valencia should have made it 2-0 - and sealed the match - with a header that Joel Robles tipped over.

He said: "We could have done an awful lot better (in defending the goal).

"It's very disappointing when it's so late in the game that they've equalised and for me it would have clinched it if Enner Valencia had put the ball in the net with a free header. You would've expected a player of his capabilities and his qualities to have scored that.

"It wasn't to be but it was a really good performance by the players."

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