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West Ham logo
Pre-season Friendlies
Aug 7, 2016 at 1pm UK
 
Juventus logo

2-3

Carroll (34', 53')
FT(HT: 1-2)
Dybala (18'), Mandzukic (21'), Zaza (85')

West Ham United mark official stadium opening with defeat to Juventus

West Ham United battle back from two goals down before falling to an eventual 3-2 defeat to Juventus at the Olympic Stadium.

West Ham United have suffered a 3-2 defeat to Juventus in an entertaining official opening game at their new Olympic Stadium home.

The Hammers beat Slovenian minnows NK Domzale 3-0 here on Thursday night, but this fixture had long been pencilled in for the curtain-raiser at the 60,000-capacity ground

It certainly did not disappoint, either, with West Ham battling back from two goals down before seeing their comeback count for little as Simone Zaza scored a late winner for the visitors.

Juventus took 18 minutes to edge ahead in the match, with Paulo Dybala having the honour of being the first visiting player to score at the ground when converting from a Mario Mandzukic knockdown.

The Juve forward pairing linked up once again soon after as Dybala this time squared for his teammate to tap home a quick-fire second for the Italian giants.

United did slowly grow into the match, though, and they had one back 10 minutes before the interval after Andy Carroll bundled home at the second time of asking from a Sam Byram cross.

Adrian, back in goal after being left out against Domzale, produced a fine double stop to prevent Mario Lemina restoring Juve's two-goal advantage.

The visitors continued to knock on the door, but Adrian denied Mandzukic for a third time and Mehdi Benatia smashed an effort back off the underside of the bar in a mad scramble.

Despite being under the cosh, West Ham were level just short of the hour mark when Carroll outjumped Dani Alves and headed the ball into the back of the net.

A raft of changes throughout the second half, including the much-anticipated return of Dimitri Payet, meant that chances were few and far between.

There was one big opportunity to come late on, however, which Zaza took well when racing in behind and converting the ball down low to finally get the better of Adrian.

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