Manchester City 3 West Ham 0
Fabianski:6 Made a great save from Mahrez on 8 mins. Had his goal well protected for the most part.
Coufal:7 High energry pressing from Coufal. Really had his work cut-out with Grealish constantly lurking. Pulled his hamstring and was substituted.
Kehrer:8 Made a vital tackle to thwart Rodri. Held his position very well. Amazing tackle on Haaland.
Ogbonna:7 Made a crucial header mid-way through the first half from a Grealish cross which would have certainly found Haaland. Marshaled the West Ham defence incredibly well but switched off for Ake’s goal.
Manchester City 3 West Ham 0
Cresswell:6 Played as a left centre back and dealt well with Mahrez in the first half.
Emerson:7 Battled well and got forward where possible. Unlucky with City’s third goal.
Downes:6 An unexpected inclusion following a virus to Soucek. Made some good tackles and tried to move the ball quickly. Got a deserved yellow for a foul which eventually led to the City opener.
Fornals:6 An industrious performance from Fornals who was much more comfortable in a central position. Had a decent half chance to score a consolation goal.
Paqueta:6 Showed some great touches and tried to dictate play but it was extremely difficult with only 20% possession. Terrible delay with one of his passes on the 56th min when he should have released Antonio.
Bowen:5 Found himself in a great position in the 28th min but couldn’t pick out a claret & blue shirt. Not involved too much.
Antonio:7 Unsettled Diaz who should have been booked for persistent fouling on Antonio. Did as well as he could given the paucity of possession. Antonio gave everything to the cause.
Johnson: 61st min sub for the injured Coufal. Johnson didn’t do too badly.
Ings: 66th min substitute for Antonio. Immediately gave the ball away for Haaland to score. I do have some sympathy for Ings who shouldn’t be playing with his back to goal.
Benrahma: 78th min sub for the exhausted Jarrod Bowen.
Ogbonna and Kerher outstanding tonight.
Oggie didn’t switch off for the 1st goal, he was pushed out the way by Ake, giving himself just enough space to get his head on the cross.
Really liked the players effort last night. 3-0 possibly flattered them howver we never looked like getting back into the game once they had scored. There was no change of system to bring on an attacking player e.g. when Coufal got injured I expected Moyes to switch to a back 4 and bring Lanzini or Cornet on. I thought Coufal was our man of the match. We looked better with 3 footballers down the centre. Love to see Rice, Pablo and Paqueta combine but will not under this manager. Johnson is just way off the pace of PL football at the moment. Please no more Ings as a loan front man. He was playing so close to his own goal and caused the second goal as a result which killed the game. If I was manager I start with Antonio, replace him with Divan and then bring ings on to work up top in a 2. Finally our worse player was Bowen last night, he has to be rested against united, he offered absolutely nothing.
There are fine margins at this level, and the difference was the speed, vision and accuracy of our passing. Other than Paqueta, who looked like he was auditioning for Pep with some sublime quick, incisive passes, we looked fearful every time we had the ball at our feet – like playing hot potato… A little more composure needed. Certainly not a criticism though – City just have a better calibre of player and there were some real positives in our defending. Onwards, Irons!