Erling Haaland subsequently scored his 24th career hat-trick, consigning West Ham to a 3-1 defeat as Manchester City cemented their position at the top of the Premier League.
In seventeen games against West Ham under Pep Guardiola, Manchester City remains unbeaten; the Hammers last won against City in 2015.
However, West Ham put in a strong performance, with Head Coach Julen Lopetegui commenting after the game that his team deserved more.
Indeed, it was Jarrod Bowen who had the first meaningful chance in the opening few minutes, with his shot being palmed away by Ederson.
Haaland, though, broke the deadlock after ten minutes when he scored from a pass by Silva. De Bruyne then hit the woodwork on eighteen minutes.
West Ham equalised nine minutes later when Bowen’s shot was deflected into the net by Ruben Dias.
A second goal, however, always seemed inevitable, and Haaland struck a fierce shot into the roof of the net on thirty minutes.
West Ham came out stronger in the second half, with Kudus hitting the woodwork after some excellent build-up play. Yet, despite their dominance, the Hammers failed to find the elusive equalizer, and the Norwegian striker clipped the ball over substitute goalkeeper Fabianski to seal the win for City.
Summerville did have a late chance for West Ham, but Ederson pushed his effort onto the post.
There were some positives to take away from this game, despite West Ham only having 32% possession against the English champions. Rodriguez and Alvarez linked up well in central midfield, and Wan Bissaka put in another solid performance.
Next up for Julen Lopetegui and his team is Fulham away on September 14th.
Same old, same old. We found encouragement from another defeat. Trouble is – every game will be ‘difficult’ against settled and ambitious opponents. There are plenty of those in the Premier League. Hope springs eternal but it’s the hope that kills.
Hoping for better results. Get Kevin Nolan and Stuart Pearce back on board.
COYI
I thought we matched them for long periods in the second half, our problems were not scoring in that period and gifting City the first and third goals
They pay DeBruyne 400 grand a week and Haaland 350 grand a week. Last time I looked ten on higher than our highest wage. They’re facing 115 charges that we’re not I wonder why that might be ?
Is there any real surprise that we lost 3-1
Very true, if there is evidence for those charges etc, I hope the FA give them the punishment to fit the crime.
I have my doubts