Evan Ferguson collected the first-time ball from Jarrod Bowen on the half turn, took one touch to get it out of his feet, shrugged off two Brentford defenders to burst into the penalty area and let fly towards goal.
It was a wonderful chance for Ferguson to mark his West Ham debut with a goal and level the game at the London Stadium but his effort flew straight into the grateful arms of Mark Flekken in the Brentford goal.
Not the dream ending but, in that moment, Ferguson showed a flash of everything that West Ham have been missing.