Grigg brace stuns 10-man West Ham

Arthur Masuaku will face a mandatory six-match ban after the West Ham United midfielder was sent off for spitting at Wigan Athletic’s Nick Powell. It completed a miserable afternoon for David Moyes as he watched his side dumped out of the FA Cup by the League One leaders.

Two goals from Will Grigg secured a hugely impressive win for the 2013 Cup winners, who extended their unbeaten run to 15 matches with a performance that oozed class and composure. It was a shame the same could not be said for Masuaku, who will now miss the Premier League games against Crystal Palace, Brighton, Watford, Liverpool, Swansea and Burnley after a moment of complete lunacy.

About to take a throw-in on the left touchline, Masuaku became embroiled in an exchange of words with Powell before appearing to spit on the Wigan midfielder’s shirt. Powell reacted angrily and began to walk over to the fourth official to show him his jersey as Max Power charged over and began furiously finger-pointing at Masuaku. Referee Chris Kavanagh wasted no time brandishing the red card.

Wigan v West Ham - How the match unfolded

The Football Association have adopted a zero tolerance approach to spitting and the West Ham midfielder will not be available again to Moyes in West Ham’s battle against relegation until they face Manchester United on Mar. 18. Having also lost midfielder Pedro Obiang to injury in the first half, defeat came at the heaviest of costs for Moyes.

It was a disgraceful incident although his West Ham team-mates hardly covered themselves in glory either with a slipshod, half-baked display in which they were second best throughout. England manager Gareth Southgate had come to watch Joe Hart, back in the West Ham line-up. Hart was not at fault for either goal, the second from the penalty spot, but it is hard to see how he justifies a place in England’s team at present.

Wigan were sharper, faster, hungrier, dominant physically and in the quality stakes. Make no mistake about it, Paul Cook’s team can play. It was easy to see why they are unbeaten since Nov. 18. There is a real swagger to their football and, as West Ham went into the interval trailing to Grigg’s seventh minute goal, it was hard to believe they were the Premier League side.

Wigan had poise on the ball – Powell ran the midfield - and attacked from both flanks with purpose, with Nathan Byrne, in particular, excellent at right back, defending with diligence and awareness but also overlapping Gavin Massey with real intent at every opportunity. Time and again West Ham found themselves on the backfoot and it was no surprise the opening goal originated from Byrne, the defender swinging over a fine cross, out of Joe Hart’s reach, to Grigg at the far post to nod home. The hosts had the ball in the net again soon after but Chey Dunkley was ruled offside.

If anything encapsulated the difference in attitude between the sides it was captain Samy Morsy’s outstanding double block on the cusp of half-time. When the ball was pulled back for Javier Hernandez, Morsy charged down the Mexico striker’s shot and then reacted quickly to take the full force of Josh Cullen’s effort on the rebound before substitute Reece Oxford blazed over. As Morsy lay rather gingerly on the ground, a posse of Wigan players ran over to pat him on the back. It typified Wigan’s hunger. To a man, they were outstanding, and in Dan Burn and Dunkley had a colossal pairing at centre-half.

Moyes brought on Joao Mario, signed on loan from Inter Milan, for his debut at half-time but it made no discernible difference. It was still mostly one-way traffic. West Ham’s task became even harder once Masuaku was dismissed and they were fortunate not to concede a second before Grigg’s penalty. Callum Elder whipped over a pinpoint cross but Grigg could only glance his header wide under no pressure. He made amends soon after when he won and converted the penalty. Nicking the ball past Reece Burke, the West Ham defender handled, Kavanagh pointed to the spot and the Northern Ireland striker did the rest.