The Hammers begіn a new era іn theіr new home when they host Slovenіa’s NK Domzale іn the second leg of a Europa League thіrd qualіfyіng round tіe.
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“Hopefully we will have a minimum of five players to add to this squad”.
Bilic admitted it could take some time before his side feel the benefit of home advantage. They are not going to get you a corner. “‘Not only for me but for the whole team, with the ‘Bubbles” song on when you walk out there’s always something special and also the crowd were fantastic so we’re looking forward to more of those games. Watching the stadium fill up in the moments before kick-off, one thing was clear as supporters poured through the turnstiles and found their bearings: Upton Park belonged to a different world and a different time. “But it’s a really good atmosphere”.
Kicking off life at the London Stadium in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford with a 3-0 win over NK Domzale in the Europa League, hundreds of Hammers lined the platforms at Ashford International to make the short trip into the capital and offer their support.
It has been converted to a football stadium at a cost of £272 million (RM1.44 billion), partly funded by the British taxpayer.
Three months after leaving Upton Park for the final time, and nearly a year to the day since being eliminated from this competition at the same stage by Romanian minnows Astra Giurgiu, two first-half goals from Cheikhou Kayate and a second-half strike by summer signing Sofiane Feghouli secured a comfortable 4-2 aggregate victory over Slovenian outfit NK Domzale.
While it all may have been without ceremony – the grand opening is not until Sunday against Juventus – at least nobody fluffed their lines.
But West Ham avoided the need for a tense finale as Feghouli produced the knockout blow inside the final 10 minutes when he darted into a Mark Noble pass and drove a low past Maraval to settle matters. Angelo Ogbonna and James Collins only returned to training this week and will not take part, whilst talisman Dimitri Payet will return to training tomorrow and is unlikely to take part even in the first match against Chelsea.
It made the Senegal worldwide the first scorer at the ground and he added another in the 25th minute, toeing the ball in from Andy Carroll’s knock-down to register his first career brace in his 321st match.
Yesterday he was handed a start by coach Frederic Antonetti, just 25 days after coming off the bench to score Portugal’s dramatic extra-time victor against hosts France in the European Championship final.
Russian Premier League giants Spartak Moscow were dumped out after a shock defeat to Larnaca.
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Darren Randolph was finally called into action on 69 minutes, making his first real save of the night to deny Matic Crnic, before Valencia surged up the field at the other end moments later to play in Feghouli, who dragged his shot wide, with the Ecuadorian lashing a wild effort off-target within seconds.
