Football: West Ham start life at Olympic Stadium with emphatic win

West Ham United's Senegalese midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate (right) vies with Domzale's Slovenian midfielder Zan Majer during the qualifying third round second leg Europa League football match between West Ham United and NK Domzale at the London Stadium in east London on Aug 4. PHOTO: AFP

(REUTERS) - West Ham United marked their first match at the Olympic Stadium with a 3-0 win over Slovenian side NK Domzale on Thursday as Cheikhou Kouyate scored twice to help secure a place in the Europa League play-off round.

West Ham left the Boleyn Ground, their home for 112 years, at the end of last season after agreeing a 99-year lease with the London Legacy Development Corporation to rent the 60,000-seater venue built for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Kouyate took eight minutes to bag the first goal at the club's new stadium when he cleverly flicked home Sam Byram's cross in the second leg against Domzale, who had won the first game 2-1.

The Senegal midfielder then made it 2-0 in the 25th minute as he poked the ball into the net following good work by striker Andy Carroll to the delight of the 54,000 sell-out crowd in the reduced capacity venue.

Algeria winger Sofiane Feghouli, who joined West Ham on a free transfer from Valencia in the close season, clinched a 4-2 aggregate win when he drove home a low shot with nine minutes to go to give West Ham the perfect start at their new ground.

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