West Ham are through to Round Two of the Carabao Cup following a 3-1 victory over Portsmouth at London Stadium.

It was a shaky start for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side, who were on the back foot for most of the first half.

Aside from an Edson Álvarez header which was comfortably caught by Pompey’s Nicolas Schmid, the Irons had no real chances and were lethargic in possession.

They were punished for their lethargy on 33 minutes, when Adrian Segečić’s strike from outside the box deflected off Max Kilman and past Mads Hermansen in goal to put the visitors 1-0 up.

It was a poor opening half an hour from Nuno’s side, but they really upped the tempo after going behind. Ten minutes after the opener, they were back on level terms.

Lewis Orford’s pass found Ollie Scarles on the left-hand side. The Irons’ full-back played the ball down the line to Mohamadou Kanté, who produced a lovely turn to spin away from Terry Devlin in the box.

The French midfielder then found Taty Castellanos, who equalised with a tidy finish from close range – the first West Ham goal of this new era.

Things got even better for the Hammers two minutes later, when skipper Jarrod Bowen hit a deflected strike of his own from outside the box to put his side in front. In a matter of moments, West Ham had turned things around.

The Hammers went in 2-1 up at the break, but the goals did not stop there. Nuno’s side came out with a swagger in the second half and were rewarded with a third goal to double their lead.

Five minutes into the half, Konstantinos Mavropanos found Kyle Walker-Peters. The right-back played a great ball down the line to Bowen, whose inch-perfect cross found Castellanos.

The Argentinian striker’s bullet header secured his second goal of the game to double the Hammers’ lead.

From there, things were comfortable for West Ham. Edson Álvarez was perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch after a late challenge four minutes after the third goal, but he escaped with just a yellow card.

Pompey came forward but rarely tested Hermansen’s goal as the Irons cruised to a 3-1 victory. Into the second round of the cup, where they could face a Premier League side, this was a great first outing of the season for Nuno’s team.

Hopefully, the result will give West Ham some confidence going into next weekend’s league opener at Burnley, which is expected to be one of their biggest games of the season.

The draw for the second round of the Carabao Cup will take place on Monday night at around 7.20pm.

First game down, at least 48 more to go. COME ON YOU IRONS!