Mohamadou Kante ripped to shreds for West Ham 'shocker' after 'criminal' Lincoln moment

Mohamadou Kante drew criticism despite West Ham's 6-0 win over Lincoln City.

The 21-year-old was named in Nuno Espirito Santo's starting line-up for the clash at Sincil Bank on Wednesday night.

It was his ninth Championship appearance, with five starts under his belt so far, in an impressive campaign.

Konstantinos Mavropanos, Edvin Austbo, Jarrod Bowen, Pablo and a double from Tomas Soucek secured all three points for the Irons on the road.

The Hammers rose to third in the second tier, with Kante playing the full 90 minutes against a Lincoln side who went down to nine men inside 23 minutes.

However, one moment from the Frenchman has come under fire after the victory.

Why was Mohamadou Kante criticised in West Ham win?

In the 21st minute, with the scoreline still locked at 0-0, Kante headed the ball wide from close range from a corner.

Andy Hinchcliffe couldn't believe that he had not scored and slammed him for his effort.

Speaking on Sky Sports, he said: “It’s a shocker of a miss. The amount of time and space that he has got here.

“It’s criminal defending from Lincoln. Just a solid header on target and you score.

“He tries to do too much with it. It's so, so poor and that is a golden chance gone.”

When Kante missed another chance later on in the contest firing high and wide, the pundit described it as an "absolute shocker".

The verdict was not very good for the young star, but was it warranted?

Was the criticism deserved for Kante after Lincoln showing?

Kante has already scored important goals this season in the league, so the criticism is harsh from Hinchcliffe.

He has notched three strikes in nine matches, which is a great tally for a midfielder.

Kante's most recent strike was in the 2-2 draw with arch-rivals Millwall, and he has also scored against Wrexham and Derby previously.

In the grand scheme of things, neither miss mattered, as the Hammers went on to blow the side managed by Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw out of the water.

Kante's all-around performance was fantastic, as he managed 78 touches, with one chance created for his teammates.

According to FotMob data, he completed 86 per cent of his passes, with three going into the final third.

Defensively, he made two clearances and three recoveries in the contest for Nuno's side.

In terms of duels, he won one of four on the ground, for a 25 per cent success rate, which was the weakest area of his showing.

Ultimately, he does not deserve to be slammed for his display, even if these efforts called out by Hinchcliffe were far from ideal.