- Bojan Radulovic opens the scoring for Albion in the Premier League International Cup
- West Ham level against the run of play through Nathan Holland to make score 1-1 at half-time
- Visitors on top in the second half, as Alfie Lewis and Anthony Scully eventually find a way past Tom McGill
- Albion face tough test in order to qualify, with games against Valencia and Wolfsburg to come
A strong Albion line up included three of their senior first-team squad, with Bernardo, Leon Balogun and Alireza Jakhanbaksh all starting the contest, while Simon Rusk was also able to welcome back Romanian international Tudor Baluta, who missed Friday’s match against Liverpool.
Albion started really brightly, and created a string of early opportunities, with Peter Gwargis, Radulovic and Jakhanbaksh, twice in quick succession, all testing the West Ham defence.
At the opposite end, Warren O’Hora had to be really alert to cut out a dangerous low cross from Ben Johnson, before Albion’s Jordan Davies stung the hands of West Ham keeper Krisztian Heegi with a smart free kick from the edge of the box.
Albion went in front midway through the first half, as Radulovic latched onto a perfectly weighted Jahanbakhsh through pass, and made no mistake from close range, sliding the ball under Hammers goalkeeper Heegi.
The Seagulls went close to doubling the lead soon after, as Gwargis’s free-kick created a chance for Baluta who sprung the offside line, but saw his effort saved by Heegi, and then Radulovic’s follow-up attempt was blocked.
Eight minutes after the opener, the visitors levelled, somewhat against the run of play, as Nathan Holland's well-placed and low drive beat Tom McGill in the Albion goal and crept into the bottom corner of the net.
That gave West Ham an added confidence, and central defender Goncalo Cardoso’s glancing header was well saved by McGill, before Albion’s England under-20 keeper made an even better save moments later.
Joe Powell combined with Anthony Scully, before getting a shot away and McGill brilliantly pushed the effort onto the angle of the woodwork; and there was still time for Dan Kemp to fire in another shot, which rattled the bar, before the interval, as the Hammers closed out the half in command.
Early in the second half, Jakhanbaksh almost created a second for Radulovic, but the Serbian couldn’t quite apply the finish to an inviting cross into the box, while McGill was in fine form, as he produced another excellent save to deny Powell at the opposite end of the field.
West Ham went in front after 66 minutes, after Powell’s cross from the left caused problems in the Albion box, and Alfie Lewis took advantage of the loose ball falling to him to fire home.
McGill made a superb save at the feet of Scully, after the West Ham striker had weaved through the Albion defence. He tried to take the ball round the Seagulls keeper, but he was bravely down to pounce at the striker’s feet and deny him the opening.
The Albion keeper then dived full length to push a 20-yard strike from Lewis behind for a corner, but he could do little to deny Scully from the corner, as the Hammers striker reacted quickest to the second ball and swept an effort into the corner of the net.
Gwargis went close to a consolation late on, as he got on the end of a flick-on, but Heegi saved well to complete a good night’s work for the Londoners.
Albion line-up: McGill (GK); Tsoungui, Balogun, O'Hora (C), Bernardo (Cashman 45); Baluta, Jenks, J.Davies; Jahanbakhsh (Longman 68), Radulovic (Leonard 75), Gwargis.
Subs not used: Keto (GK), Yapi, Freestone, Richards.