London: Carlton Cole scored twice in three minutes Monday to help West Ham rout Burnley 5-1 and reach the quarterfinals of the FA Cup.
Thomas Hitzlsperger scored on his debut to give West Ham the lead with a long-range shot in the 23rd minute, and Cole decided the game with two quick strikes shortly after the break. Winston Reid headed in the fourth in the 59th before Jay Rodriguez scored a consolation goal for the second-tier club in the 71st.
Reid then prevented another goal in injury time, clearing the ball off the goal line with a diving header that bounced off the bar and left post, and Freddie Sears completed the rout at the other end moments later.
West Ham will travel to Stoke in the next round.
For a night at least, West Ham shrugged off its Premier League relegation concerns and gave manager Avram Grant yet another impressive cup result.
Grant has been under fire for much of the season but also led West Ham to the League Cup semi-finals before being eliminated by Birmingham. Last year, Grant took struggling Portsmouth — which was later relegated — to the FA Cup final, where it lost to his former club Chelsea.
"Our target and first priority is the league, but it's always good to come into the quarterfinals of the Cup," said Grant, whose team is next-to-last in the Premier League. "We want to win every game. We know in the Cup you lose one game and you're out, but in the league there is always the next game to make things better."
Hitzlsperger, who had been out for six months with a thigh injury, opened the scoring when he cut inside a defender and unleashed a hard left-footed strike from 25 meters that swerved past goalkeeper Lee Grant.
"I didn't know what to expect after such a long time out," Hitzlsperger said. "The manager was speaking to me before the game about whether I would play 30 minutes or start, but I'm delighted to start with a goal and an important win for us.
"It's going to bring some confidence back to the camp and that's important with the games ahead of us."
Cole made the game safe with his two rapid goals, the first coming in the 48th when he stabbed home the ball from a lying position after tumbling over an onrushing Grant — despite an apparent handball after he fell.
The second was a much cleaner finish. Mark Noble sent a long ball over the Burnley defense and Cole controlled it with one touch before sending a perfect half-volley high into the net.
Reid's powerful header from Hitzlsperger's corner put the result beyond doubt, and West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green could afford to gift Burnley a consolation in the 71st. Green's poor clearance hit Tyrone Mears on the head inside the six-yard box and the ball fell to Rodriguez who nodded home into an empty net.
Sears wrapped the win up with an 15-yard strike in the final minute of injury time.
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