West Ham goalkeeper Adrian was the hero at Upton Park on Tuesday as his decisive penalty against Everton fired the Hammers in the FA Cup fourth round. With the third-round replay tied 8-8 onpenalties following a 2-2 draw after overtime, the 28-year-old Spaniard stepped up and dispatched his spot-kick, after his opposite number, Joel Robles, had missed his.
“I didn’t havenerves,” Adrian said. “I thought ‘I’ll take off my gloves, this game is over’ and I struck the ball,” he said, adding: “I never took a penalty before — only in training for a joke,but not serious. … I have celebrated my saves before, but never scoring a goal. It was my first goal in my career and it’s an amazing day.”