Soucek doubles as West Ham rout nine-man Lincoln 6-0
On 14 October 2026 in the Championship, West Ham beat Lincoln 6-0 at the ProAmpac Stadium as Tomas Soucek scored twice and the hosts finished the game with nine men.
The roundup also covered Southampton’s 1-0 win at Norwich, Portsmouth’s 3-2 victory over Sheffield United and QPR’s 4-1 home win against Derby, with several matches featuring late drama or disciplinary incidents.
Lincoln were reduced to nine men early in the West Ham game when Tom Hamer was sent off after three minutes and Conor McGrandles followed 20 minutes later; Konstantinos Mavropanos put West Ham ahead with a header on the stroke of half-time. The visitors dominated after the break, with further goals from Edvin Austbø, Jarrod Bowen, Pablo and two from Tomas Soucek that completed the 6-0 scoreline. Nuno Espírito Santo said: “I credit Lincoln as even with one man down, they were in the game and still creating a lot of problems for us,” and added: “I think we made mistakes in terms of trying to rush things,” before saying: “It changed after the second goal and we played much better, in terms of being patient, recycling the ball and being clinical.” The manager described the result as the club’s biggest away win for 103 years.
Southampton secured a second hard-fought 1-0 victory in four days, with Kuryu Matsuki scoring early in the second half to give Tonda Eckert’s side their first away win of the league campaign. The win followed Sunday’s success over local rivals Portsmouth and moved Southampton into the top half of the table after 10 games despite starting the season with a four-point deduction. Norwich suffered a fourth successive league defeat. Eckert said: “To be fair there have been some good performances away from home when we just needed to finish better, ” and added: “Tonight we have put in another good performance and on this occasion, we have got our reward. I am very happy for the boys because they worked very hard out there.”
At Fratton Park, Portsmouth recovered from a 2-0 lead being overturned to beat 10-man Sheffield United 3-2 courtesy of an 89th-minute winner from Ebou Adams. Zak Swanson opened with a long-range strike and Adrian Segecic added a tap-in either side of Hamza Choudhury’s dismissal for two bookings; Japhet Tanganga and Tom Cannon drew the visitors level before Adams, on as a substitute, converted in the final minute to hand Portsmouth their third win of the campaign. Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder criticised referee Oliver Langford, saying: “There were a number of decisions which were incredibly frustrating,” and: “That is three players that have been sent off in the last two games he [Langford] has refereed us. Where are the young and up-and-coming referees who would be refereeing in the Championship now, instead of the ones that are just surviving? “No doubt we will have another survivor ref on Saturday. Where is the quality? Where are the ones coming through?” He added: “It is a tough one for the players, but there is more frustration and anger towards somebody. We have to deal with it.” Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho said: “I am happy that we won the game but the nature and circumstances of it … we have a large amount to learn and a long way to come. “There was a little bit of relief when the winner went in, but there was fury through the game and I still am furious,” he added. “I think the players are on the same page as me and that is why there was muted celebrations at the end.”
QPR extended their strong start with a 4-1 home win over struggling Derby, three goals arriving in the first half from Alfie Lloyd, Nicolas Madsen from the penalty spot and Harvey Vale. Paul Smyth added a fourth with a deflected effort midway through the second half before Lars-Jørgen Salvesen scored a late consolation for Derby. The victory was marred for QPR by what appeared to be a serious knee injury to defender Amadou Mbengue, who was carried off on a stretcher. Derby have now gone six league games without a win; head coach John Eustace said: “It’s a long season. We’ve had some difficult moments and I’m confident we’ll come through it,” and added: “I don’t think the players will need picking up. I think they’ll be angry and ready to go for the next game.”
Southampton’s result leaves them well-placed in the top half of the table after 10 games despite the four-point deduction, Norwich remain too close to the bottom for comfort following a fourth successive defeat, and Derby continue their run of six league matches without a win.