West Ham v Coventry 21/08/96 7.45

West Ham                (0) 1 Coventry                (1) 1 FT
Rieper 74                     McAllister 12

Both sides scored their first goal and earned their first point of the season on a night that Paulo Futre almost stole the show for West Ham at Upton Park.

Gary McAllister, Coventry's £3million summer signing from Leeds, scored his first goal for the club with a brave diving header, early in the first-half.

But Marc Rieper equalised for West Ham midway through the second period, even though the home fans were just as excited by the appearance of Futre.

They had to wait, though, as McAllister threatened to set up three points for Coventry when he headed home an Andrew Ducros centre after just twelve minutes.

Julian Dicks, the West Ham captain, came close to equalising in the very next minute, when he had a 30-yard shot deflected wide for a corner.

That was the first of three long-range efforts from Dicks, but goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic kept out the next two with full length saves.

Coventry enjoyed most of the first-half possession and it was only after the break that West Ham took control of the game.

The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for Portuguese star Futre, who made his West Ham debut as a substitute for Tim Breacker, in the 53rd minute.

Futre had the crowd rising again with his first touch when he took the ball from his own half and into the Coventry penalty area, where he set up Iain Dowie with a goal-scoring chance.

Futre was wearing his favourite number 10 shirt which could indicate that its previous owner, John Moncur, could be off to QPR, who are believed to have bid around £1 million for the player.

West Ham, however, owed their equaliser to a defensive combination in the 73rd minute.

Left-back Dicks floated in a free kick which was only half-cleared and Danish central defender Rieper drove home from just inside the penalty area.

West Ham continued to press for a winning goal and went close through another Dicks effort with five minutes to go.

The match also marked a debut for Mark Bowen, a close season buy from Norwich as he came on as a late substitute for Steve Jones.

West Ham: (3-5-2) Miklosko, Breacker (Futre, 57), Dicks, Williamson, Rieper, Dowie, Lazarides, Slater, Jones (Bowen, 77), Hughes, Bilic.

Subs not used: Rowland, Lampard, Mautone.

Booked: Slater, Dowie.

Coventry: (5-3-2) Ogrizovic, Shaw, Burrows, Daish, Jess (Williams, 85), Dublin, McAllister, Salako, Telfer, Ducros, Genaux (Borrows, 77).

Subs not used: Richardson, Filan, Strachan.

Booked: Burrows.

Attendance: 21,580.

Referee: S W Dunn (Bristol).