A second half onslaught from Tottenham Hotspur couldn’t prevent defeat to West Ham United in Ange Postecoglou’s first game in charge.
The crowd of 46,266 was thoroughly entertained by two Premier League sides at Perth’s Optus Stadium as Gianluca Scamacca won it for the Hammers in the 78th minute.
Spurs, captained by star striker Harry Kane, dominated long periods of the game and created a whole host of chances but ultimately came up short defensively.
They almost took the lead early on when, after sustained pressure, Oliver Skipp latched onto a pass from Sergio Reguilon but Lukas Fabianski got down quickly to save.
The Polish goalkeeper had to be alert again moments later as new signing Spurs Manor Solomon fed Dejan Kulusevski and his angled shot was parried to safety.
However, it was the Hammers who took the lead on 18 minutes when a corner was only half cleared, and Jarrod Bowen’s cross was headed in at the back post by Danny Ings.
That lead was doubled soon afterwards from another set piece and some poor marking allowed Divin Mubama to head past Guglielmo Vicario.
As the half wore on, Solomon continued to look lively and he tested Fabianski again with a curling effort that had to be helped behind for a corner. From the next phase of play, Maddison headed straight at the goalkeeper from Pedro Porro’s delivery.
It was wave-after-wave of attack and brilliant link up play involving Bissouma and Skipp led to a clever Kane dummy, but Bissouma couldn’t squirm an effort past Fabianski.
At the other end, Bowen almost made it 3-0 just before half time, however Vicario got down superbly to save low to his left.
Postecoglou made wholesale changes at the break, bringing in a fresh eleven to try find a way back into the contest. They almost scored instantly when Richarlison got free down the right and his cross was met by Perisic whose shot was blocked to safety.
Just before the hour, Richarlison had a great opportunity to pull one back but his shot hit the outside of the post and went wide. Youngster Alfie Devine tried his look from a tight angle with Fabianski saving well at his near post.
They finally made a breakthrough on 69 minutes when Davinson Sanchez rose high to nod the ball down to Giovani Lo Celso and he fired home from close range.
And it was 2-2 minutes later as Perisic’s inswinging corner was flicked home by Destiny Udogie and it looked like there would only be one winner from that point onwards.
However, West Ham had other ideas when Pablo Fornals released Scamacca and the Italian raced clear of the Spurs defence before rolling the ball calmly past Brandon Austin.
Richarlison headed tamely at Fabianski in the closing stages as West Ham held on to make it two wins from two games in Perth.
Tottenham Hotspur: 13. Guglielmo VICARIO, 3. Sergio REGUILON, 4. Oliver SKIPP, 10. Harry Kane, 17. Christian ROMERO, 21. Dejan KULUSEVSKI, 23. Pedro PORRO, 25. Japhet TANGANGA, 38. Yves BISSOUMA, 71. James MADDISON, 72. Manor SOLOMON.
Substitutes: 5. Pierre-Emile HOJBJERG, 6. Davinson SANCHEZ, 9. RICHARLISON, 12. Emerson ROYAL, 14. Ivan PERISIC, 18. Giovani LO CELSO, 29. Papa Matar SARR, 33. Ben DAVIES, 40. Brandon AUSTIN, 41. Alfie WHITEMAN, 42. Harvey WHITE, 45. Alfie DEVINE, 73. Destiny UDOGIE.
West Ham United: 1. Lukas FABIANSKI, 4. Kurt ZOUMA, 8. Pablo FORNALS, 12. Flynn DOWNES, 18. Danny INGS, 20. Jarrod BOWEN, 21. Angelo OGBONNA, 33. Emerson PALMIERI, 45. Divin MUBAMA, 53. Levi LAING, 62. Freddie POTTS.
Substitutes: 3. Aaron CRESSWELL, 11. Gianluca SCAMACCA, 32. Conor COVENTRY, 37. LUIZAO, 49. Joseph ANANG, 51. Daniel CHESTERS, 55. Jacob KNIGHTBRIDGE, 58. Kamarai SWYER.
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