West Ham 3 Tottenham 2: Postecoglou suffers nightmare first-half on debut as Scamacca scores late winner
HARRY KANE played 45 minutes – but it was West Ham forgotten man Gianluca Scamacca who edged this thriller.
Two quickfire goals in the first half from Danny Ings and whizkid Divin Mubama had put West Ham 2-0 up at half-time.
But Gio Lo Celso and Destiny Udogie, two of 11 Tottenham subs introduced at the break, clawed the game back for new Spurs chief Ange Postecoglou.
The topsy-turvy clash then swung back the other way as sub Scamacca, who rarely featured in the second half of last season, raced through to win the game.
Bayern Munich target Kane captained his side in the absence of club skipper Hugo Lloris, who has been left out of the tour as he tries to secure his own move away from Spurs.
The England striker looked a little rusty with a few heavy touches, which was understandable given he only returned to pre-season training on Wednesday.
Yet he also would have had two assists had Yves Bissouma or Cristian Romero had on their shooting boots.
Postecoglou’s new-look Spurs played some intricate stuff at times and had far more of the ball than under defensive predecessors Antonio Conte, Nuno Espirito Santo and Jose Mourinho.
But Jarrod Bowen proved to be a thorn in their side – and particularly Sergio Reguilon’s – and it was the England international who set up Ings’ opener.
Bowen swung in a cross to the far post which Ings, brushing off a weak challenge from Reguilon, headed home from close range.
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The lead was doubled five minutes later when Emerson Palmieri’s cross flew over Pedro Porro and England youth starlet Mubama headed into the far corner.
Spurs missed chances to halve the deficit when a clever Kane dummy played in Bissouma, who could not beat Lukasz Fabianski, and then Romero miscued a shot when teed up by the Three Lions icon.
Postecoglou swapped his entire team at the break and the switches made a difference.
First Richarlison, on for Kane, hit the crossbar and then Lo Celso grabbed one back, crashing home a volley after Davinson Sanchez had flicked on an Ivan Perisic cross.
Spurs were back on level terms shortly afterwards when youngster Udogie flicked Perisic’s corner into the far corner via a clever header.
Postecoglou’s side were the one creating the vast majority of chances.
But they were undone as Scamacca converted goal No3 for West Ham, from just their fourth shot, as Pablo Fornals’ defence-splitting pass sent through the Italian, who fired past sub keeper Brandon Austin.
Spurs racked up more than 30 shots of their own, with Richarlison having more than his fair share but failing to convert them.
It will have given Daniel Levy much to ponder, given the Brazilian will likely be the team’s new starting centre-forward should the unthinkable happen and Kane leaves this summer.