West Ham United secured a comfortable 3-1 victory over Portsmouth in the Carabao Cup first round, with David Sullivan, the club's major shareholder, attending despite advice from stadium operators to stay away.
Sullivan's Presence
Wearing a black bomber jacket and flanked by security, Sullivan took his seat, arms crossed, as West Ham progressed to the second round. The win sets up a reunion with former Premier League peers, while the Championship campaign begins next Sunday at Burnley.
Manager Nuno Espírito Santo dismissed any distraction from Sullivan's presence, saying: "Neither me nor the players... We'll focus on the pitch. The noise that comes from outside cannot distract at all; we're going to find a lot of noise. We focus on the game, they do their job, they did it well."
Match Summary
Despite pre-match talk of protests, there were few visible signs of insurrection. The loudest boos came during a hydration break, with 90s rave music playing. Portsmouth took the lead through Adrian Segecic, but West Ham equalised through Taty Castellanos, followed by a Jarrod Bowen strike. Castellanos added a third early in the second half.
Nuno praised the young players, including Lewis Orford, saying: "The energy of the young players is really really important for us. It's up to us to develop the young academy players. That's the vision for the future."
Portsmouth manager John Mousinho acknowledged West Ham's quality: "If you give them a slight opening they're going to take it."
