London: West Ham United's woes intensified as the Premier League club were thrashed 5-0 in the FA Cup third round by second tier Nottingham Forest on Sunday, increasing the heat on manager Sam Allardyce.
Forest's Jamie Paterson netted a hat-trick in the humiliating rout, but the spotlight was on Allardyce who was accused of waving the white flag by making nine changes to his starting line-up with an eye on the their League Cup semi-final at Manchester City on Wednesday.
Chelsea showed their fellow Londoners how to negotiate a potentially tricky Cup tie in the east Midlands, winning 2-0 at second tier Derby County with second-half goals from John Obi Mikel and Oscar while Sunderland also came through 3-1 against Carlisle.
Liverpool revenged last season's Cup defeat by Oldham Athletic, winning 2-0 at Anfield with Iago Aspas scoring his first goal for the club.
West Ham, 19th in the top flight and facing a relegation battle, were undone by a Forest side who scored early in the first half with a cheeky Djamel Abdoun penalty before Paterson netted three times in the second half and Andy Reid added a fifth.
There were rows of empty seats at Forest's City Ground, but the fans who had made the trip were treated to a comprehensive victory with the wheels set in motion after 12 minutes when Paterson was tripped in the area by George Moncur.
Abdoun finished with an audacious chipped penalty to put the hosts ahead and Paterson doubled the lead after 65 minutes with a low finish across the keeper for the twice European champions.
Paterson, who had not scored since joining Forest from Walsall in the close season, grabbed his second with another first-time low finish after 71 and added his third with a well-taken effort.
Reid poured embarrassment on the visitors with a rifled finish into the top corner in stoppage time.
"Who knows, that's their decision, not mine," a beleaguered Allardyce told reporters when asked whether the defeat would have repercussions for him.
"I had made them aware of what was going to happen today. I am not in a position where I go and do these things without telling everyone internally what's going to be planned out for the next few games.
"I am not saying it won't happen, unless I start getting results, I have got to get results I know that."
STRONG SIDE
Forest's local rivals Derby had little joy against Chelsea, who named a strong side which had enough class to dominate their lower league opponents.
Mikel put them ahead after 66 minutes, the Nigeria international getting on the end of a Willian set-piece to head in his fourth goal for Chelsea in almost 300 appearances.
Oscar added a second from the edge of the area to make the game safe and set up a fourth-round tie at home to Premier League Stoke City.
Liverpool suffered a painful defeat to Oldham in the fourth round last season, a reverse manager Brendan Rodgers described as the lowest point in his Liverpool career.
The potential for another embarrassing defeat was reduced nine minutes into the second half when Aspas steered home Raheem Sterling's cross and James Tarkowski inadvertently redirected a Sterling shot into his own net to double the lead.
Sunderland were briefly made to sweat when Adam Johnson's opener was cancelled out by Carlisle's Matty Robson just before halftime.
The second half was just five minutes old, however, when a comical own goal restored the Premier League side's lead, with Sean O'Hanlon sliding in to divert Johnson's cross into the net.
El Hadji Ba made the game safe on 90 minutes when he side-footed home from close range.
The lower league clash between Port Vale and Plymouth Argyle ended in a 2-2 draw and will go to a replay and Manchester United take on Swansea City later on Sunday.
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