Credit: Imago

James Barker

Mon 6 April 2026 8:40, UK

Max Kilman gave away his third penalty in all competitions this season in West Ham United‘s FA Cup quarter-final loss to Leeds United.

The 28-year-old central defender made his first appearance since West Ham’s FA Cup fourth round win over Burton Albion on 14 February when Leeds came to town on Easter Sunday.

He would play the full 120 minutes, but wasn’t able to have a crack at a penalty as Daniel Farke’s side ran out 4-2 winners in the shootout.

It was an evening that few inside, and indeed outside, of the London Stadium will ever forget, in an FA Cup tie that had just about everything.

Unfortunately for Kilman, however, that also meant that it included him doing something that he’s been in a bad habit of doing throughout West Ham’s season: conceding penalties.

How many penalties has Max Kilman conceded for West Ham?

Kilman has posted good underlying West Ham numbers this season, which has helped make his performances so frustrating for many Irons fans.

Indeed, he was even heard being booed by sections of the London Stadium against Leeds, in what is a £40million summer 2024 transfer from Wolves that simply hasn’t worked out to this point.

His display against Leeds was doomed to the annals of his poor West Ham career performances thanks to two big moments in particular.

Firstly, he should’ve given away a penalty for his challenge on Anton Stach in the first half, after he clearly wiped out the Leeds midfielder inside the box after he’d got his shot off, but VAR checked and cleared it to his relief.

He wasn’t as fortunate the next time though, as he indisputably scythed down Brenden Aaronson with 15 minutes to play in normal time, for which he was shown a yellow card, and saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin convert from the spot for 2-0 Leeds.

Adding to his tally of two penalties conceded in the Premier League this season, Kilman has now given away three in all competitions this term, and it really should’ve been four.

If he can’t stop doing this, then he will continue to put himself behind the eight ball with West Ham supporters, and it’s likely to cost him his career as a Hammer unless he shows he can be trusted not to do so.

West Ham boos surely final nail in Kilman’s Hammers coffin

Easter Sunday 2026 is a day that Kilman will always want to forget, and it may well be remembered as the evening where his West Ham fate was well and truly sealed.

Once you have large sections of your home stadium booing you, it’s incredibly tough to come back from that.

It’s a hard one to reflect on. On the one hand, fans had every right to be frustrated with Kilman and his performance, as once again his rashness inside the box cost his team.

On the other, there’s the human side. They may be very well compensated human beings, but human beings they are, and Kilman and his family will of course have heard the fan reaction, and that’s sad.

However, that kind of reaction made it abundantly clear where he stands with many West Ham supporters, and as such, will have surely shortened the odds on him leaving in the summer transfer window.