Manuel Pellegrini handed a full West Ham debut to striker Albian Ajeti for the Carabao Cup victory against Newport County on Tuesday evening.
The Swiss striker joined the Hammers on deadline day from Basel for £8m as the Hammers aw off competition from Brentford and West Brom in the Championship to bring him to east London.
The 22-year-old frontman had been named in the past two Premier League squads for the draw against Brighton and the victory over Watford on Saturday but didn't see any match time off the bench.
But he was given the chance to show what he was all about on Tuesday as club-record signing Sebastien Haller was given a rest and Javier Hernandez missed out through injury.
We kept an eye on Ajeti throughout his first start for the Hammers and here is how he got on:
0-15 minutes
A bit keen to get on the ball in the early stages and gave away a needless foul which, to be fair, wasn't a foul anyway. Made some good runs, showed some nice touches and a willingness to get into the penalty box and wait for a chance to come his way.
15-30 minutes
Much like the first quarter of an hour, he showed plenty of willing and promise but just had zero service. One half chance almost fell to him in the box after County failed to clear their lines but that was about it,.
30-45 minutes
Tried a couple of backheels that didn't come off as, in truth he struggled to get into the game. Started to drop deeper and deeper in an attempt to get on the ball more.
45-60 minutes
Had his clearest opening of the night on 53 minutes when he found half a yard inside the box but headed over Snodgrass's cross. The steered a header just wide of the post despite having his shirt pulled off his back by the defender.
60-75 minutes
Just missed out on tapping home as he was pulled back by a defender but Pablo Fornals did the honours instead to make it 2-0. Looked like he started to tire.
75-90 minutes
Once the Hammers went 2-0 up they took their foot off the gas and that will have pleased Ajeti, who was visibly looking a bit cream crackered on his first start for the club.
Overall
Decent, promising but ultimately frustrating. The two headed chances he had were good ones but you wouldn't have said that either of them were truly clear cut. Maybe the first one was a bit more presentable.
But he didn't have any chances to get a shot off with his feet as he was pretty well marshalled by Newport defenders Howkins and O'Brien.
He'll get more chances for sure but he didn't really show his true potential at Rodney Parade. You suspect there is a lot more to come.
