DO NOT judge this game by the scoreline for it was a flowing match, full of attacking energy, and there might have been three or four goals just as easily as there were none.

Consider this pleasing fact: the goalkeepers were both excellent and Robert Green and Joe Hart are English. England’s new head coach, Fabio Capello, dispatched one of his Italian footsoldiers to Upton Park yesterday, apparently to watch Dean Ashton. The Capello auxiliary wouldn’t have learnt too much from that because Ashton had one of those old-fashioned battles with Richard Dunne that a Continental observer could never be expected to understand.

A draw was fair because neither side deserved to lose. Green made a fine first-half stop from Stephen Ireland, Hart saved brilliantly from Matthew Etherington and made another fine stop from Mark Noble. Late on, Hart again moved smartly to tip away Ashton’s goalbound header. Capello shall be told that the goalkeeping crisis is nowhere near as desperate as he has been led to believe.

You could sense the FA Cup atmosphere at Upton Park but not quite in the manner you might have expected. For all the entertainment, it was never do or die. From end to end the game raced, and there was enough space for all of those with a mind to play. There was, though, far too great a commitment to attack from both teams for it to be the Premier League.

Players tried things that showed a rare fearlessness, as if they didn’t think their managers’ jobs depended upon the result. In this free-flowing game, City were the neater and more creative side. Nery Castillo, a loan signing from Shakhtar Donetsk, appeared in City colours for the first time, and how well they suited him.

He played in Elano’s role, behind Darius Vassell, and was one of the team’s better performers. “If you consider he was a new player, playing in a new country, with a new team and in a new league, I think he was brilliant,” said City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson.

There was much else to like about City. Martin Petrov was excellent on the left side and his first-half battle with Lucas Neill was a gem. When Neill left Australia, it wasn’t to play tortoise to some Bulgarian hare. But Petrov is fiendishly fast and you had the distinct impression Neill wanted to clip his wings. If only he could have got close enough.

The crosses and the danger kept coming from Petrov, and after outflanking Neill he seemed to be taken down by Anton Ferdinand, but referee Rob Styles ruled otherwise. Whatever the Bulgarian is for “rubbish”, Styles heard it yesterday. Apart from Petrov, Didi Hamann gave a masterclass in the art of playing the anchor role. He read the game wonderfully, made countless interceptions and has always been able to pass the ball.

If so much was right about City, how come they couldn’t score? It is not a difficult question. They started with Vassell, ended with Roland Bianchi but never really had a centre-forward, not one who was going to score against Ferdinand and Matthew Upson at least.

Even though outclassed for long periods, West Ham did not stop working and went forward with a directness and a threat that City sometimes lacked. It was interesting to watch Noble welcome Castillo to the more robust side of English football. Admirably, Castillo accepted this and got on with it. Clearly he had been warned.

West Ham’s centre-forwards, Ashton and Carlton Cole, were threatening and Dunne and Micah Richards needed to be on their games, which they were. When they were beaten, Hart was sharp and close to unbeatable. The game ended with a West Ham claim for a penalty, Cole’s header from a corner seeming to be blocked by Vedran Corluka’s hand. A penalty would have been harsh and spiritually it would not have been right. Both teams deserved another chance.

Replay dates

- Tuesday Jan 15

West Brom v Charlton

Bury v Norwich

Barnet v Swindon

Reading v Tottenham

Hereford v Tranmere

Millwall v Walsall

- Wednesday Jan 16

Man City v West Ham

Havant & W v Swansea

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