Ravel Morrison made his first start for West Ham United last night in the 2-1 victory over Cheltenham Town in the League Cup.
Morrison repaid Sam Allardyce’s confidence in him with a sparkling man of the match performance, which will have fans wondering just how good this lad can be.
The strength of West Ham’s squad was showcased, with the manager being able to choose an entirely different starting eleven from the one that drew with Newcastle at the weekend.
There were debuts for Razivan ‘Roland’ Rat and new keeper Adrian, but it was Morrison who really stole the show with a dazzling performance which showed why Manchester United thought Morrison was the finest player to come out of their academy since Paul Scholes, which in itself is some accolade.
Ravel was deployed in an attacking midfield role with license to roam, he was a thorn in Cheltenham’s side with his movement and probing passing along with his willingness to always make himself available to receive a pass from his team mates.
It was from a foul on Morrison that brought West Ham their first goal, tripped just before half time around 25-yards out, Ricardo Vaz Te stepped up to fire home a gorgeous curling free kick into the top corner to show his manager he still knows where the back of the net is!
After the break Morrison scored his first West Ham goal, receiving the ball on the edge of the box, he shuffled to the left, darted back the other way leaving two men for dead, before firing the ball beyond bottom corner.
West Ham looked like scoring more but never quite managed it, Cheltenham were handed a lifeline when a horrible mix up between Tomkins and goalkeeper Adrian led to a penalty which was duly dispatched.
Cheltenham never looked like getting the second goal they needed and West Ham will now be in the hat for the third round draw.
About Iron Bobby
It takes a great player to do what Morrison did on the edge of the box and it doesn’t matter even if it was cheltenham – great stuff!