Friday 28 July 2017 22:41, UK
Marko Arnautovic made his first West Ham appearance as Slaven Bilic's side suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bundesliga side Werder Bremen in the first leg of the Betway Cup on Friday.
Slaven Bilic, who started with Arnautovic on the bench, named a young side which featured Reece Burke, Declan Rice, Josh Cullen, Nathan Holland and Toni Martinez.
Moses Makasi and captain Mark Noble also started as West Ham controlled possession in the early stages, but they could not find an early breakthrough.
And they were behind in the 12th minute when Jerome Gondorf picked out Johannes Eggestein with an inch-perfect through ball, and the striker picked out the bottom corner.
Werder continued to create chances as Philipp Bargfrede fired over from distance, before Aron Johannsson was brilliantly denied by Adrian.
Noble was replaced by Pedro Obiang just after the half-hour mark, and he almost levelled the scores but the midfielder failed to make contact with Martinez's cross.
The Hammers nearly fell further behind just before the interval, but Adrian was called into action again, making another superb save to keep out Niklas Schmidt's long-range effort.
West Ham started the second-half on the front foot and Rice's header almost brought them level, forcing Werder goalkeeper Michael Zetterer into a smart save.
Arnautovic was introduced on the hour mark alongside several others and the new signing was involved in an excellent counter-attack which saw Makasi's shot blocked inside the penalty area.
Bilic's men continued to push for an equaliser but it failed to materialise as Werder held on for a slender victory.
However, West Ham, who are expected to make several changes for Saturday afternoon's second leg, could still win the Betway Cup if they can beat the Bundesliga side by two clear goals when they meet again in Lohne.
