Europa League Qualifying - 1st Leg
NK DomzaleNK Domzale2West HamWest Ham United1

NK Domzale 2-1 West Ham United

Mark Noble
Mark Noble's penalty gave West Ham an away goal that could be crucial in next week's second leg

West Ham endured a tricky start to their season as they lost to NK Domzale in the first leg of their Europa League third round qualifier in Slovenia.

Mark Noble's penalty cancelled out Matic Crnic's spot-kick for the hosts, but the Premier League side faded.

Crnic curled home a second, and Adrian had to save well from Amedej Vetrih to prevent a bigger margin of defeat.

Next week's second leg will be the first competitive game played at the Olympic Stadium, West Ham's new home.

The match looks set to be a sell-out, played in front of more than 50,000 fans.

Noble's penalty has given West Ham an away goal that means a 1-0 win in the home leg will take them through.

But, in front of barely 3,000 in Ljubljana - the game was moved from the home of Domzale, they looked well short of match sharpness.

Crnic and Noble exchanged early penalties - with Domzale's awarded for a Havard Nordtveit handball and West Ham's for a foul on Winston Reid.

The Hammers were without last season's standout player Dimitri Payet, and while new signing Sofiane Feghouli enjoyed an impressive start, he barely had a touch in the second half.

Michail Antonio was at fault for Crnic's second goal and looked fragile all night, while former Leeds full-back Sam Byram looked makeshift on the left.

First-choice Aaron Cresswell is set to be out for four months with a knee injury and Bilic may need to enter the transfer market before the start of the season.

West Ham assistant manager Nikola Jurcevic:

"Our performance was not so good, and maybe I can say it was average in the first half and it was 1-1. We were not satisfied with this result and in the second half we played badly.

"I am sure we will be better next week. It will be very difficult but I'm optimistic and I hope it will be a different game in the Olympic Stadium.

"We must be better. We must win this game in our stadium because we also have big ambitions in Europe, but it will be very tough because Domzale showed they are a good team."

Line-ups

NK Domzale

Formation 4-5-1

  • 35Maraval
  • 2Brachi
  • 27Dobrovoljc
  • 6Horic
  • 29Balkovec
  • 87MorelSubstituted forRepasat 77'minutes
  • 77AlvirBooked at 13mins
  • 23HorvatBooked at 56mins
  • 37MajerSubstituted forVetrihat 86'minutes
  • 11CrnicSubstituted forXavier Juniorat 90+1'minutes
  • 95Mance

Substitutes

  • 1Milic
  • 4Vetrih
  • 8Xavier Junior
  • 10Vuk
  • 15Repas
  • 17Sirok
  • 25Blazic

West Ham

Formation 4-5-1

  • 13Adrián
  • 30AntonioSubstituted forQuinaat 81'minutes
  • 4NordtveitBooked at 10mins
  • 2Reid
  • 22Byram
  • 7Feghouli
  • 8Kouyaté
  • 16Noble
  • 14Obiang
  • 11E Valencia
  • 9Carroll

Substitutes

  • 1Randolph
  • 24Fletcher
  • 32Burke
  • 35Oxford
  • 36Quina
  • 37Page
  • 39Cullen
Referee:
Mete Kalkavan
Attendance:
8,458

Match Stats

Home TeamNK DomzaleAway TeamWest Ham
Possession
Home41%
Away59%
Shots
Home17
Away10
Shots on Target
Home6
Away3
Corners
Home13
Away5
Fouls
Home24
Away8

Scores, Results & Fixtures

Thursday 28th July 2016

  • AberdeenAberdeen1NK MariborNK Maribor1
  • NK DomzaleNK Domzale2West HamWest Ham United1
  • AEK LarnacaAEK Larnaca1Spartak MoscowSpartak Moscow1
  • FC OleksandriaFC Oleksandria0Hajduk SplitHajduk Split3
  • Heracles AlmeloHeracles Almelo1AroucaArouca1
  • Austria ViennaAustria Vienna0Spartak TrnavaSpartak Trnava1
  • IFK GöteborgIFK Göteborg1HJK HelsinkiHJK Helsinki2
  • JelgavaJelgava1Beitar JerusalemBeitar Jerusalem1
  • LilleLille1FK QabalaFK Qabala1
  • Lokomotiva ZagrebLokomotiva Zagreb0Vorskla PoltavaVorskla Poltava0
  • Slavia PragueSlavia Prague0Rio AveRio Ave0
  • Torpedo ZhodinoTorpedo Zhodino0Rapid ViennaRapid Vienna0

Elsewhere on the BBC