England Under-17s captain Reece Oxford made history on Thursday as he enjoyed a winning first-team debut for West Ham United.
The centre-half made his senior bow for the Hammers as they defeated Andorran side FC Lusitans 3-0 at the Boleyn Ground, ensuring they take an hefty lead into the second leg of their Europa League First Round Qualifying tie next week.
Oxford, from Edmonton in north London, become the club's youngest-ever first-team player aged 16 years 198 days, beating Billy Williams's record from 1922 when he appeared aged 16 years 221 days.
The youngster, who helped the Young Lions reach the quarter finals of the European Championship in May and then notched a penalty in the shoot-out victory over Spain to seal England's place at the U17 World Cup in Chile, started the contest in midfield.
Perhaps understandably, Oxford looked a little nervous in the opening exchanges in front of a full house as he was caught in possession and gave away a free-kick. But it did not take long for him and his partner, Diego Poyet, another former Young Lions captain at U17 level, to settle.
Sakho headed West Ham into the lead on 40 minutes
With 12 minutes on the clock he was presented with his first opportunity. So often a threat from set pieces for the national side last term, he once again showed his aerial ability as he rose to meet Matt Jarvis’s corner, but unfortunately for the Upton Park faithful, visiting goalkeeper Gerardo Rubio was able to jump and gather with both hands.
It proved to be an eventful opening to Oxford’s senior career as he received his first caution midway through the half following a late tackle on Aguilar.
Another of England’s young guns, Reece Burke, was in action for the Hammers on the left side of defence. The U19s international and his fellow Hammers were rarely troubled as the the hosts remained firmly in control without finding a breakthrough, Burke often finding himself and captain James Tomkins as a two-man backline with Oxford sat deep as a shield.
With new boss Slaven Bilic watching from the stands (academy manager Terry Westley was in charge of the team for the contest), and with everyone keen to impress, frustrations were starting to grow as half-time approached – but the pressure was relieved courtesy of Diafra Sakho.
Slaven Bilic was introduced to the Boleyn faithful prior to kick-off
The Senegalese striker, who should have opened the scoring earlier when he headed over with the goal gaping, made no mistake on the 40-minute mark as he drove Mauro Zarate’s cross into the top corner with his head to break the deadlock.
The forward, who notched 10 goals in 23 Premier League matches last season, grabbed his second moments later. Morgan Amalfitano showed neat skill to lose his man with a drop of the shoulder before pulling the ball across goal for Sakho to prod home to double the advantage.
West Ham’s dominance continued into the second period and Oxford clearly fancied his chances of grabbing a debut goal – and he came within inches of getting it. Ten minutes after the restart, he collected the ball around 30 yards from goal, looked up and unleashed a piledriver that went narrowly wide of the target.
Reece Burke almost added his name to the scoresheet late on
A third goal did arrive shortly after as Tomkins headed home on 58 minutes, leading to changes in personal for the Hammers as Oxford was dropped back into his more familiar role in the centre of defence.
Despite his assured display at the back, Burke will have been kicking himself that he failed to add his name to the scoresheet. He found himself free inside the Lusitans six-yard box as the ball bounced straight to him following an attempted clearance from a corner, but the 18-year-old headed straight at the keeper with just over 10 minutes remaining.
A fourth goal did not arrive, but what a night to remember for Oxford. Before kick-off he was presented with his match shirt by Bilic and Hammers' co-chairman David Gold, who told him to create his own legacy as a notable West Ham defender.
Westley was pleased with Oxford's debut, but acknowledged that improvements can be made.
He said: “[Oxford] looked the part but he still has some work to do. We’ll need to go through the clips with him as he was a bit slow to move the ball.
“But that’s why we put him in midfield - because you have to move the ball quicker when you're in there, so there was method behind the madness, and that will help him when he moves back into defence."
