West Ham's travelling camp might be wishing the pre-match downpour that briefly threatened to see tonight's Stateside Cup clash in Jacksonville postponed had persevered, after being comprehensively beaten by fellow Premier League outfit Wolves.
Kick-off was delayed by more than 90 minutes as an incoming storm initially rendered play impossible as a result of the inclement conditions. As a result, the match finally began shortly after 9pm local time - or 2am in the UK, too late for all but the night owls who managed to remain awake and took advantage of West Ham's (pay for) live stream.
A rather wet EverBank Stadium: 30 minutes before the original kick-off time, which was delayed for 95 minutes
Although missing key components to his squad, with the likes of Alphonse Areola, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta still yet to return for pre-season, Lopetegui's stamp was already evident - even though he has officially only been in charge for a matter of weeks.
The Spanish Head Coach's team played with a greater emphasis on regaining possession in more advanced areas, and it was from one such passage of play that West Ham levelled shortly before the half time interval, having previously fallen behind to the dangerous Cunha's close-range strike, 18 minutes in.
Having regained possession from a broken down Wolves move, West Ham worked the ball forward to Danny Ings, playing the central striker role. He in turn fed Mo Kudus, who drove at goal before finding the net from an acute angle, beating Wanderers 'keeper Dan Bentley.
Sadly that was the only occasion on which the Wolves net was to find itself rippling in the warm and wet Florida winds; instead it was to be O'Neil's team that went on to steal the show and, at the same time, give Lopetegui some cause for concern.
Having ended the first half in encouraging style, the Hammers rarely threatened after the break and Lucas Fabianski - followed by new signing Wes Foderingham - were called upon several times to make important saves.
Yet Wolves were nonetheless able to breach West Ham's defence twice within the space of four minutes late on, to put the game beyond Lopetegui's side.
There were just 18 minutes left to play when new signing Luis Guilherme conceded possession, allowing the opposition to surge forward on the counter. Nayef Aguerd's decision to go to ground in order to deny Guedes a shot at goal afforded Rodrigo Gomes, at whose feet the loose ball fell, time to pick his spot and put Wolves back ahead.
The goal was no more that O'Neil's side has deserved for their enterprise and increasing dominance as the half progressed; the same can be applied to Gomes' second goal four minutes later in the 76th minute as he converted Pedro Lima's cross from wide, beating Gideon Kodua to the header and Fotheringham between the sticks.
And although Callum Marshall can perhaps feel hard done by for having an effort ruled out when Michail Antonio was incorrectly adjudged to have been standing in an offside position when he centred the ball for the young striker, the two-goal margin was probably a fair reflection on the game - or the second half, at least.
West Ham must now hope that Crystal Palace can beat Wolves in the tournament's next fixture before United meet the Eagles in their second and final fixture of the Stateside Cup - a game they would have to win in order to stand a chance of winning the trophy.
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