Ferencváros 2-2 West Ham United
Pre-season Match, Sportstadion Langau, Kitzbühel, Austria, Monday 15 July 2024, 4pm CEST
West Ham United kicked-off Julen Lopetegui’s tenure as Head Coach with a 2-2 pre-season draw with Hungarian champions Ferencváros on Monday afternoon.
Coming at the end of a week of hard work and double training sessions at altitude in the Austrian town of Kitzbühel, high in the Alps, the Irons spent valuable time on the pitch, building fitness ahead of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, which kicks-off at home to Aston Villa on Saturday 17 August.
Substitutes Danny Ings and Nayef Aguerd got the goals as the Hammers recovered from a two-goal half-time deficit to snatch a share of the spoils with the last kick of the match.
Lopetegui gave debuts in a West Ham shirt – the new Cockney Kit – to Luis Guilherme and Maximilian Kilman at the picturesque Sportstadion Langau, where the Spaniard had the first opportunity to see his players in match action.
The opening stages were competitive, albeit short on goalmouth action, with only a curling effort from Ferencváros’s former Manchester United schoolboy Tosin Kehinde that curled wide causing either goalkeeper any concern in the first 20 minutes.
Both teams passed the ball neatly on a lush playing surface, but initially the defences were on top, with debutant Kilman and Dinos Mavropanos pairing up in the centre, and 2023 FA Youth Cup-winning captain Gideon Kodua catching the eye in a new position at right-back.
As it was, the Hammers fell behind shortly after the drinks break midway though the first half, when Ghana international Owusu Kwabena scored with a superb half-volley that looped over Łukasz Fabiański and into the net via the underside of the crossbar.
The Irons attempted to hit back immediately. First, Mohammed Kudus was fouled and Aaron Cresswell saw his free-kick blocked by the wall. Minutes later, Kudus himself created a shooting chance for James Ward-Prowse, but the midfielder’s effort was blocked by Ivory Coast international Habib Maïga, and Maxwel Cornet screwed the follow-up high over the crossbar.
However, it was the Hungarians who also scored the game’s second goal eight minutes before half-time. Latvian Cebrail Makreckis collected on the right flank, cut inside and threaded a ball through for Aleksandar Pešić, who converted neatly across Fabiański and into the bottom left-hand corner.
Lopetegui made nine substitutions at half-time, including a first West Ham appearance off the bench for goalkeeper Wes Foderingham.
It took less than three minutes for the changes to have a positive affect as, after Maïga had been penalised for handball, it was one of the substitutes, Danny Ings, who curled an unstoppable free-kick over the wall and into the top left-hand corner to halve the Hammers’ deficit.
Ferencváros recovered their composure and, after Callum Marshall had been introduced as Lopetegui’s tenth replacement, fourth from the Academy of Football and third from Northern Ireland, Mali international Adama Traoré curled a shot high and wide.
With their London-born manager Pascal Jansen also making changes, Ferencváros substitute Fortune Bassey shot low across the face of goal, before Makreckis saw his cross-shot cannon back off the underside of the crossbar, while West Ham probed for a late equaliser.
And that probing paid off with seconds to play when a free-kick was cleared as far as Andy Irving. The Scot crossed from the right and Nayef Aguerd volleyed accurately into the net with his left foot to secure a draw!
Next up for Lopetegui and his new charges will be a much shorter trip to Chigwell Construction Stadium to face National League side Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday at 3pm BST.
Ferencváros: A.Varga, Cissé, Raul Gustavo, Ramírez, Abu Fani, Maïga, Makreckis, Kehinde, Traoré, Owusu, Pešić
Subs: Szécsi (GK), Radnóti (GK), Knoester, Ben Romdhane, Ćivić, Zachariassen, Botka, Gruber, Bassey, Aaneba, Katona, Rommens, Kady, Tóth
Goals: Kwabena 23, Pešić 38
Booked: Maïga
West Ham United: Fabiański (Foderingham HT), Kodua (Marshall 60), Mavropanos (Zouma HT), Kilman (Aguerd HT), Cresswell (Emerson HT), Orford (Earthy HT), Potts (Moore 68), Ward-Prowse (Irving HT), Guilherme (Kelly 54), Kudus (Casey HT), Cornet (Ings HT)
Subs not used: Terry (GK), Herrick (GK), Robinson
Goals: Ings 48, Aguerd 90