Tottenham Hotspur began the Ange Postecoglou era with a thrilling 3-2 friendly defeat to London rivals West Ham United in Perth.

The Europa Conference League winners had stormed into a 2-0 lead against the run of play through Danny Ings and Divin Mubama, before Giovani Lo Celso and Destiny Udogie clawed Spurs back into the game in the second half.

However, Gianluca Scamacca had the final say with the game's fifth goal 12 minutes from time, as Tottenham's defensive deficiencies continued to plague them, but there were positives for Postecoglou to take from his side's attacking play.

All of Manor Solomon, Guglielmo Vicario and James Maddison were named in the first XI for their non-competitive debuts, as Postecoglou deployed his traditional attack-minded 4-3-3 and witnessed his side control proceedings from the off.

Lukasz Fabianski was called into action with just seven minutes gone, denying Oliver Skipp's chipped attempt, but Spurs were soon made to pay for failing to capitalise on their explosive start.

With 18 minutes on the clock, Tottenham could only half-clear a West Ham corner, and the ball found its way back out to Jarrod Bowen, whose cross from the right was on the money for Ings to direct a header underneath Vicario.

Tottenham's aerial weaknesses had come back to bite them once more, and Vicario was not covering himself in glory during his debut either, passing the ball straight out for a corner under pressure in the 23rd minute.

From the resulting set-piece, Tottenham were once again caught out defensively, as Emerson Palmieri's peach of a delivery found 18-year-old Mubama, whose delicate flicked header found its way across goal and into the back of the net.

Tottenham huffed and puffed towards the end of the first half but could now blow the West Ham walls down, and just before the whistle sounded, Vicario had to be alert to prevent Bowen from picking out the bottom corner.

Plenty of positives to take after an exciting pre-season clash in Perth. pic.twitter.com/Y0ksUeL3MT

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 18, 2023

Aiming to give all of his players some minutes in the tank, Postecoglou made a full 11 changes at the interval - while David Moyes sent out an untouched lineup - and normal service resumed in the second 45, as Tottenham's dominance was offset by wasteful finishing.

Richarlison - one player whose goalscoring woes last term were well-documented - came close to halving the deficit on the hour mark, only to witness his curling effort clip the woodwork, but Spurs finally made one of their attacking sequences count not long after.

Lo Celso - who had been a livewire since coming off the bench at half time - was allowed to drift into space unmarked, and the Argentine fired home a volley from close range in the 68th minute after Davinson Sanchez's header fell kindly for him.

Only four minutes later, it was Tottenham's turn to capitalise on set-piece shortcomings, as Udogie met Ivan Perisic's corner at the near post to delicately guide a deft header into the far corner, levelling the scores with a carbon copy of Mubama's effort.

However, one of Moyes's second-half changes soon came good to propel the Hammers back into the lead in the 78th minute, as one through ball from Pablo Fornals carved open Tottenham's high line, and Scamacca raced through on goal to calmly stroke home.

Tottenham ended the game with 30 shots to their name compared to West Ham's four, but the Irons held on for their third successive pre-season win and now travel back to the UK to meet Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Tottenham will soon jet off to Thailand to meet Leicester City on Sunday before taking on the Lion City Sailors in Singapore on July 26.