- Hammers come back from two goals down but are edged out 3-2 by Juventus in Betway Cup
- Andy Carroll double brings his pre-season tally to four
- 53,966 Hammers pack out London Stadium to officially open Club’s new home
Slaven Bilic was pleased with they way his team responded to a whirlwind Juventus start on Sunday as the Hammers officially opened London Stadium with an exciting Betway Cup clash against the Italian giants.
Simone Zaza’s goal five minutes from time eventually defeated the Hammers by the odd goal in five, but Andy Carroll’s double – after strikes from Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic inside the first 21 minutes – showed the boss enough to suggest his team are ready for the start of the Premier League season.
Again 54,000 fans packed into the Club’s new home on a glorious summer’s afternoon and Bilic was delighted with their backing.
“It was a good test for us,” he said. “We started sloppily – we hit the post after 15 minutes but they are a top class team and if you are on the back foot and give them a yard, they can pass the ball and play football.
“If you give them three or four yards then it’s too easy for them. That’s what we gave them at the start – okay we played three nights ago and were a little bit tired – but then after that we came back into the game and changed the rhythm.
“It was much more aggressive, we made it harder for them and Andy scored his type of goals. They are of course very important for us and he is great for us.
“Then we put some young players in because we don’t want to risk injuries and that kind of things. We thought it was going to end 2-2, but then we conceded one that from our point of view was too easy and sloppy.
“It was a packed Stadium against one of the biggest clubs and best teams in Europe.
“It was a good test for us and great to see the fans filling our Stadium again.”