West Ham downed by Palmero
Even the guile of Carlos Tevez could not help West Ham
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Thursday, 14, Sep 2006 11:37
Even with their two newly-acquired Argentinean stars making their first starts, West Ham could not avoid slipping to a 1-0 home defeat to Palmero in the first leg of the Uefa Cup first round.
Manager Alan Pardew choose to include both Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano in his starting line-up for the first time, but the gamble failed to pay off as Andrea Caracciolo struck the game's only goal just before half-time.
While Tevez in particular attacked with verve and energy, his team-mates seemed to struggle to adapt to his new style of play.
In the opening minutes the diminutive striker switched a neat reverse pass into the path of Lee Bowyer who was far from on the South American's wave-length.
But the Serie A side took the lead as Aimo Diana's delicious cross was bundled home by the Italian striker Caracciolo just minutes after Tevez had spurned an almost-identical opportunity.
His shot had thumped into the body of Alberto Fontana in the visitors' goal after Bobby Zamora's centre when a cooler finish would have certainly brought a goal.
West Ham pressed hard but with little penetration after the interval as they struggled to break down Palmero's stubborn defence.
Marlon Harewood struck the post from the only real second-half opening as he latched onto a Yossi Benayoun ball, leaving his side with a very tricky task on the return leg.