Magdeburg 1 – 1 West Ham United | Key questions remain as Nuno’s side concedes late on

West Ham almost ran out winners in their final preseason friendly in east Germany this afternoon, thanks to Max Kilman’s first goal for the club . Sadly the Hammers had to settle for a draw as a 90th minute equaliser saw their opponents equalise to end the game level.

The surprise was in the team selection with Nuno pivoting from his previous midfield choices and suddenly starting Lewis Orford centrally and Keiber Lamadrid as a left winger. Which was a real head-scratcher for those watching, and presumably a new set up for the team to cope with too.

Of course that is what pre-season games are for but it seems odd that after three appearances in the centre of midfield Lamadrid suddenly finds himself on the left wing, as if in some last-minute change of heart by the Hammers boss. Orford grabbed his first senior assist with the corner from which Max Kilman’s swinging volley nestled in the corner.

Magdeburg responded, efforts forcing saves from Hermansen but West Ham went in at half time with their goal intact. A good 45 minute workout, Bowen also coming close.

The second half began with a spell of feisty challenges on both sides, Bowen and Mavropanos flattened, Castellanos emerging with a yellow card and several team mates wearing the bruises.

Lamadrid was the last to wear a challenge and he stayed down for a few concerning minutes, after which he was shepherded off to be replaced by Ajala – whose first touch was a turn and shot which almost went in –  whilst Taty was replaced by Earthy: Five former academy graduates on the pitch, just in case anyone still doubts Nuno’s commitment to ‘youth’.

Another rare appearance from the lesser-spotted Maxi Cornet offered some prospect of pace on the pitch for the last 15 minutes as the game grew increasingly scrappy. Diouf came on for his first few minutes of preseason alongside Mayers and Golambeckis as the tackles kept going in: Good preparation for the real thing next weekend, for both sides.

Sadly, sloppy 90th minute defending led to an equaliser when the Hammers should have seen the game out: Perhaps the price of such an inexperienced line up for the last few minutes but job done, work outs complete.. but several clear issues remain: We’ll look at those in detail later.