West Ham 0 Napoli 1

Napoli claimed the win thanks to a 78th minute goal from Fabio Quagliarella, who directed a clever looping header over Robert Green from a long punt into the box, but the football was overshadowed by the growing animosity between the two sides.

On a sweltering day at the Boleyn Ground things finally boiled over when Manuele Blasi, who only appeared as a 58th minute substitute was sent off for an unnecessary and violent lunge at Ilunga seven minutes from time.

Things threatened to get out of hand as players squared up to each other and it took the intervention of the referee to calm things down.

It had all started so brightly for West Ham on a day more suited to Neapolitan ice cream than Neapolitan football, as a crowd of 21,364 gathered to pay their respects to their legendary skipper in the second annual Bobby Moore Cup match.

A carnival atmosphere should have prevailed, with another favourite son, Sir Trevor Brooking, having a stand named after him but the Italians put paid to that as they began to adopt a cycnical approach to what was really a game of little consequence to either team.

It was a shame the visitors resorted to such tactics since they showed plenty of style and invention during the early part of the game.

West Ham more than matched Napoli in terms of skill, with plenty of good passing movement but very little end product.

Gianfranco Zola wants his side to score more goals but with the emphasis on attractive approach work too often the final shot on goal is not taken.

Carlton Cole will again shoulder the burden of goalscoring expectations this season and his hard-working display - in front of watching England manager Fabio Capello - was interspersed with some nice flourishes of skill.

But the big forward suffered from a lack of service that meant he never had a meaningful chance on goal and West Ham fans will be hoping that is not an omen for the season.

But they will have been heartened by the sight of new signing Luis Jiminez's first appearance at the Boleyn.

The Chilean playmaker showed some sublime touches and should prove a real threat once he has adapted to life in English football.

The rhythm of the second half was disturbed by a slew of substitutions on both sides and the game looked to be heading for a draw, and a penalty shoot-out, before Quagliarella's goal intervention.

Zola will be relieved to have a full complement of players to select from for next Saturday's Premier League opener against Wolves at Molineux, while the best thing to come out of this game was a £40,000 boost to the coffers of the Bobby Moore fund for cancer research.

In an unpleasant postscript Napoli fans clashed with police outside the ground, resulting in the closure of Upton Park station for almost an hour after the game.

West Ham: Green, Faubert (Spector, 63), Ilunga, Upson (Gabbidon, 80), Tomkins (Collins, 46), Parker, Collison (Hines, 88), Noble, Jiminez (Stanislas, 77), Cole, Dyer (Savio, 63). Unused subs: Kurucz, Stech, Nouble, Daprela, Lee, Payne.

Booked: Ilunga, Collison.

Napoli: De Sanctis, Grava (Maggio, 58), Pazienza (Blasi, 58), Lavezzi (Denis, 66), Santacroce (Aronica, 73), Datolo, Hamsik (Vitale, 90), Cigarini (Bogliacino, 66), Quagliarella (Hoffer, 79), Rinaudo (Campagnaro, 58), Contini.

Booked: Pazienza, Contini, Denis.

Sent off: Blasi.

Goal: Quagliarella, 78.

Att: 21,364