West Ham beat nine-man Lincoln 6-0 after two early red cards

West Ham beat Lincoln City 6-0 in the Championship on Wednesday after the hosts had two players sent off inside the opening 23 minutes. BBC Sport reported that Tom Hamer was dismissed after just 160 seconds, with Conor McGrandles later following him off, leaving Lincoln to play most of the match with nine men.

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Despite that early disadvantage, Lincoln kept the score level until the 45th minute, when Konstantinos Mavropanos put West Ham ahead. The visitors then scored five times after the interval. Substitute Edvin Austbo, Jarrod Bowen and Pablo added goals before Tomas Soucek, returning to fitness, came off the bench to score twice late on and complete the victory.

Lincoln head coach Tom Shaw, who shares the role with Chris Cohen, said the combination of two dismissals and the quality of the opposition had left his side in an exceptionally difficult position. Speaking to BBC Sport, he maintained that the result would not determine Lincoln's season and suggested the players could become more resilient through dealing with such adversity.

The match brought together clubs with sharply different recent histories. West Ham were the first of last season's relegated Premier League teams to face Lincoln, who have returned to the second tier after 65 years away. The London club won the Europa Conference League against Fiorentina a little over three years ago, while Lincoln were still playing outside the Football League less than a decade ago.

BBC Sport also highlighted the financial contrast at Lincoln's 11,000-capacity ProAmpac Stadium. West Ham travelled with a squad assembled for more than £200m. Their starting line-up included Max Kilman, signed from Wolves for £40m in 2024, a fee the report said exceeded four times Lincoln's total spending on players across the club's 142-year history.

Shaw nevertheless said Lincoln did not want to approach Championship football as permanent outsiders. He pointed to positive results and competitive performances in most of their games, while acknowledging that the team, coaching staff and club still needed to develop at this level. His stated aim was for Lincoln to challenge opponents actively, despite the disparity in resources exposed by Wednesday's fixture.