Aston Villa 2-1 West Ham: Graham Potter's reign begins with defeat as Hammers suffer FA Cup exit | OneFootball

Hammers knocked out of FA Cup in Graham Potter’s first game in charge

Defeated: A tough start to life for Graham Potter as West Ham boss.

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Graham Potter’s first game in charge of West Ham has ended in defeat against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round.

To the delight of the new Hammers boss, the first goal of his tenure arrived after just nine minutes at Villa Park as Lucas Paqueta finished off a flowing move involving brilliant play from Crysencio Summerville.

However, a suspected hamstring injury for Niclas Fullkrug soured the mood as he limped off in the 15th minute.

West Ham were comfortably the better side in the first-half and went close to doubling their lead when Paqueta’s shot was charged down by Matty Cash.

The half-time whistle certainly came at the right time for Villa as they remerged a different side in the second half and ultimately their pressure paid off with 20 minutes remaining.

Firstly, Amadou Onana equalised as he took advantage of Lukasz Fabianski dropping the ball from a corner - that was awarded in rather controversial fashion - to nip in and poke home from close range.

Minutes later, the home side completed the turnaround as Ollie Watkins put the ball on a plate for Morgan Rogers who made no mistake.

The Hammers did create a couple of chances in search of an equaliser late on, both falling to Danny Ings but he was firstly denied by great defending by Rogers before firing the second effort over the bar.

There was plenty of encouragement for Potter but it’s a third round FA Cup exit for the Hammers who are back in action on Tuesday night against Fulham.