After being stunned with an early Jarrod Bowen goal the signs were ominous for Bristol City and the near-9000 fans who had made the trip from the West Country amid various travel issues.
Hammers boss David Moyes had selected his strongest-possible side to navigate this FA Cup tie and as Bowen drifted past Max O’Leary to open the scoring after four minutes it looked to be a long afternoon ahead.
But the Robins rode a first-half storm, with Max O’Leary making three important saves, and then it was a totally different story after the break as City very much took the game to their Premier League opponents.
Their pressure and the momentum they had created told as Joe Williams fired a first-time pass into the path of Tommy Conway who broke beyond the West Ham defence and drilled a finish beyond Lukasz Fabianski.
The Cider Army were in delirium but it also woke the hosts up and City then had to defend for the majority of the final 10 minutes, digging in and securing the draw that sends the team to Ashton Gate for a replay on Tuesday, January 16.
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17:11James Piercy
That’s all for us today
We’re legging it to try and get a train (which isn’t a given by any means).
If you’re travelling back from London yourself, have a safe journey and join us tomorrow with more reaction from the London Stadium.
17:11Key Event
Liam Manning’s reaction
The head coach on the performance, the away fans and why this has to be the new norm for the Robins.
Read the full story HERE
16:18Key Event
Player ratings
A performance to be proud of with a number of individuals shining amid what was a full team display.
Read the full story HERE
15:58Key Event
Full-time! West Ham 1-1 Bristol City
Brilliant, City, absolutely brilliant. To have conceded a goal so early and looked so vulnerable to then come back and take the game to the sixth-best team in the country, they can take huge pride from that.
And, most of all, a replay under the lights at Ashton Gate!
Reaction on its way.
90+3James Piercy
Cornick tries to find Pring
City break in numbers but Zouma does well to get back and clear.
90+2James Piercy
Vyner heads over
Williamns clipped the free-kick into a packed area and Vyner rose well but couldn’t direct his header anywhere near the goal. if anything, he was trying to find a teammate at the opposite post.
90+1James Piercy
Handball!
Cornick sent in a fabulous cross which was headed away and then Soucek handled about 25 yards out. City free-kick.
90James Piercy
Ogbonna skies over
Bowen came inside and rolled a pass into Ings who looked offside but, anyway, he then teed up Ogbonna who rather awkwardly placed a shot well over the bar.
89James Piercy
City have corners to defend
The hosts are piling the pressure on at the death.
86James Piercy
Here comes Harry Cornick
Sam Bell goes off after a very impressive afternoon.
85James Piercy
Max saves!
Ward-Prowse sends the ball, it’s headed down into Mubama who takes a shot on the turn which O’Leary parries into Ings who then finds the side netting with half of the London Stadium celebrating.
84James Piercy
West Ham corner
Bowen attacks Pring and the left-back is forced to concede a corner.
80James Piercy
Pring is like a man possessed!
He’s having heck of a half and he comes so close to playing in Wells after dribbling through the middle of the pitch. He then recovers possession and runs at two defenders fancying a shot but is crowded out.
79James Piercy
Wells comes on
Conway is warmly applauded off with Nahki Wells now on.
He gets a big hug from Liam Manning as well.
78James Piercy
Conway scores again!
But he’s absolutely miles offside after Bell sent him through.
75James Piercy
Double change by City
Gardner-Hickman’s afternoon comes to an end with Matty James on in his place and Anis Mehmeti is replaced by Andi Weimann.
74James Piercy
Triple change by West Ham
Coufal, Alvarez and Fornals are off for Ben Johnson, Danny Ings and Maxwel Cornet.
74James Piercy
Zouma heads over
He jumps amid a crowd of bodies but can’t direct his header under the bar.
73James Piercy
West Ham corner
Pring slides in to tackle Bowen and it looked to hit the West Ham player last but the assistant rules otherwise.
73James Piercy
Fine block by Pring
He comes rushing out to deby Fornals as the ball broke to the Spaniard.
72James Piercy
City having to defend
West Ham decided they want some possession and are moving it about trying to find a way through.
69James Piercy
City have lost a bit of momentum
West Ham have been woken up by Conway’s equalise and are hammering at the door with Bell making a good block there.
66James Piercy
Mehmeti causing issues
Mehmeti makes inroads, thinks abouyt crossing but goes for goal and it’s deflected behind. Fabianski then just about grabs the following corner.
64James Piercy
West Ham go close
Bowen clips in a cross which is a whisker away from finding Mubama diving in.
Fair to say it’s pretty loud in here.
15:24James Piercy
More on the goal
Williams, who has been magnificent, drilled a first-time ball into the path of Conway who had got beyond Zouma and then he looked up and drilled an angled finish past Fabianski.
60Key Event
GOAL! West Ham 1-1 Bristol City (Conway)
Was a finish! What a pass!
59James Piercy
Pring booked
He had to. A needlessly heavy touch had Bowen on the move down the right and Pring just held him back.
58James Piercy
City corner
They’re on top! Mehmeti rolls a pass into the channel for Conway whose cross is blocked behind.
57James Piercy
Pring shoots wide!
Oh what a chance! Knight fires in a low cross which misses Conway and Mehmeti but falls to Pring at the back post. He absolutely leathers it, but it fires a yard or so wide of the near post.
55James Piercy
Moyes has his head on his hands
West Ham have not started this half particularly well. City need to take advantage.
54James Piercy
Mehmeti heads over
But he was offside anyway. More positive play by Bell to pick the Albanian out, not that he knew too much about the header as it came at him so quickly.
53James Piercy
Good tackle by Emerson
Bell’s giving him a real game out there after taking the ball at pace following some smart interplay through midfield.
Unfortunately the full-back’s tackle on Bell bounces off the City winter and West Ham win the goal-kick.
52James Piercy
Ward-Prowse booked
Cynical from the midfielder as Knight was away down the right channel after taking Bell’s header into his stride.
51James Piercy
More City pressure
Alvarez is hurried by Knight and Conway into a speculative ball out to the right which flies out of play.
49James Piercy
Mehmeti and TGH have efforts blocked
Good stuff from City as they work it well around the edge of the penalty area with the West Ham defence doing its job.
Its then played out to Bell who sends in a cross but Fabianski punches clear.
47James Piercy
Fabianski slices a clearance
Under pressure from Conway after Zouma’s back-pass. Just an observation but the West Ham backline doesn’t look wholly confident when forced to turn and retrieve possession.
15:08Key Event
Second-half kicks off!
City now attacking the goal in front of the away fans.
15:07James Piercy
Here come the teams again
And both look to be unchanged.
15:05James Piercy
The Jarrod Bowen goal
All too easy as he found space between Dickie and Pring and Paqueta knew exactly what the right pass to make was.
14:53James Piercy
First-half player ratings
Max O’Leary – 8
George Tanner – 6
Zak Vyner – 7
Rob Dickie – 6
Cam Pring – 6
Joe Williams – 7
Taylor Gardner-Hickman – 6
Sam Bell – 7
Jason Knight – 6
Anis Mehmeti – 6
Tommy Conway – 6
14:53Key Event
Half-time! West Ham 1-0 Bristol City
Applause from both sets of fans as after an absolute nightmare start, City have played well, just without asking enough questions of the West Ham defence outside of Bell’s effort.
That being said, the hosts look so dangerous when they counter with Bowen a constant threat. The next goal absolutely fundamental in shaping this cup tie.
45+4James Piercy
Alvarez booked
That’s a little harsh as four City players combine to tackle the Mexican who then ever-so slightly kicked Williams on the deck with the Scouser milking it somewhat.
45+2James Piercy
Dickie heads straight at Fabianski
That was a good chance! For the first time Dickie gets across his man to aim a header goalwards from about the penalty spot but it’s straight at Fabianski.
45+1James Piercy
City corner
Bell takes Emerson on, beats him and then as he’s tackled it finds Tanner who sends in a cross which is deflected behind.
45James Piercy
The board goes up
Six added minutes following all those stoppages.
Meanwhile, Coufal has fired a cross into the City box which misses everybody.
42James Piercy
O’Leary sweeps up
He had to otherwise Bowen was through.
39James Piercy
Dickie gives it away cheaply
His passing has been a bit off today and the last person you want to give the ball away to is Bowen.
38James Piercy
Ogbonna is stripped off and ready to come on
It looks like the Greek has hurt his collarbone or shoulder as he signals to that area of his body. He’s replaced by Angelo Ogbonna.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.