On a dry Perth night, it rained goals as West Ham United kicked off their trip to Western Australia with a 6-2 win over Perth Glory at Optus Stadium.
A crowd of 24,723 fans was treated to some excellent preseason football by both sides, with England international Jarrod Bowen a standout performer for the Premier League side.
It took just over a minute for West Ham to break the deadlock as Daniel Chesters’ cross from the right was turned into his own net by Darryl Lachman.
Glory had their first sight of goal in the 13th minute when John Koutroumbis fed Adam Taggart but his low shot from a difficult angle was saved by Lukas Fabianski.
However, it was the tourists who found the net again when Koutroumbis fouled Pablo Fornals in the area and Gianluca Scamacca stepped up to send Oliver Sail the wrong way.
Once again, Glory had their chance to get on the scoresheet with the ball at Taggart’s feet, but the Socceroo scuffed a shot wide with the goal at his mercy.
Debutant Sail was forced into a strong save from Danny Ings just before the half hour mark, while Giordano Colli hit the target at the other end with a long-range strike of his own.
West Ham’s high press was causing Glory all sorts of problems and they should have had a third goal. Sail ran out of options and passed the ball straight to Scamacca but the striker lifted his effort over the crossbar.
The 38th minute of the game saw a nice round of applause in memory of Dylan Tombides, the former West Ham players and Perth product who passed away from testicular cancer in 2014.
Taggart again had chances to find the net, forcing a wonderful save from Fabianski with a header, and the Polish goalkeeper was also equal to a left foot strike.
The Perth side finally got the goal their efforts deserved just before the break. Adam Zimarino released Stefan Colakovski down the right and his delivery was turned home by Hammers defender Luizao.
Glory came close to an equaliser at the start of the second half as substitute Joel Anasmo stung the hands of Fabianski before West Ham got their third. Aaron Cresswell and Emerson Palmieri combined down the left and the latter’s cross was met with a neat finish from Jarrod Bowen.
The roles were reversed on 70 minutes as Bowen picked out Emerson who headed past Glory’s substitute goalkeeper Cameron Cook.
The goals kept coming as Glory youngster Daniel Bennie reduced the arrears, racing through and finishing superbly into the bottom right corner of the net.
Divin Mubama rose highest to score a header from inside the six-yard box for the fifth, before Bowen got his second of the night from Cresswell’s low pass.
West Ham will be back at Optus Stadium on Tuesday night as they take on Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham United: 1. Lukas FABIANSKI, 4. Kurt ZOUMA, 8. Pablo FORNALS, 11. Gianluca SCAMACCA, 12. Flynn DOWNES, 18. Danny INGS, 33. Emerson PALMIERI, 37. LUIZAO, 51. Daniel CHESTERS, 53. Levi LAING, 62. Freddie POTTS,
Substitutes: 3. Aaron CRESSWELL, 20. Jarrod BOWEN, 21. Angelo OGBONNA, 32. Conor COVENTRY, 40. George EARTHY, 45. Divin MUBAMA, 49. Joseph ANANG, 55. Jacob KNIGHTBRIDGE, 58. Kamarai SWYER.
Perth Glory: 1. Oliver SAIL, 2. John KOUTROUMBIS, 6. Aaron MCENEFF, 15. Jordan ELSEY, 20. Giordano COLLI, 22. Adan TAGGART, 28. Trent OSTLER, 29. Darryl LACHMAN, 36. Joseph FORDE, 77. Stefan COLAKOVSKI.
Substitutes: 4. Luke BODNAR, 5. Mark BEEVERS, 12. Luke IVANOVIC, 13. Cameron COOK, 18. David WILLIAMS, 31. Daniel BENNIE, 32. Kaelan MAJEKODUNMI, 35. Aiki TSUKAMOTO, 38. Corey SUTHERLAND, 39. Adriano LEBIB, 41. James OVERY, 43. Adam ZIMARINO, 44. Jaylan PEARMAN, 48. Joel ANASMO.
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