Manchester City 2-0 West Ham United
Yet another master class from Kevin De Bruyne captivated fans at the Etihad as Manchester City comfortably beat struggling West Ham.
This Premier League Manchester City vs West Ham fixture landed during a Champions League week, having been re-arranged following stormy weather in Manchester last week. And after the hosts dominated from start to finish, it was a wonder the Hammers kept the score down to two.
After a poor first half of the season, West Ham were already in danger by Christmas, and a change of manager hasn’t done the trick. David Moyes has a big job on his hands to save the Hammers.
The Manchester City vs West Ham United highlights won’t give him much to work on, as his team was simply outclassed!
Highlights of the game
Sergio Aguero has been one of the best strikers in the Premier League for years now, and he started alongside Gabriel Jesus in a line-up to send shivers down the Hammers fans’ spines. And Aguero came very close to opening the scoring with a cheeky flick with the outside of his foot when De Bruyne put him in.
Then on 13 minutes, De Bruyne slid Jesus through on goal, but Aaron Cresswell made a last-ditch tackle to save a certain goal. The pre-match Manchester City vs West Ham United betting odds hardly gave the Hammers a prayer, and as City totally dominated the opening 20 minutes it seemed that the opening goal was just a matter of time.
And eventually, it came just before the half-hour when De Bruyne swung in a corner and Rodri glanced his first goal at the Etihad into the far corner.
David Silva came close to adding a second when he got on the end of a chip through by Bernardo Silva, but he stabbed his effort wide. And when West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski held on to Gabriel Jesus’ well-struck effort, the Hammers gratefully went into half-time a single goal behind.
West Ham broke out occasionally, usually prompted by the excellent Declan Rice, but it was City who continued to carve out the openings. Aguero fired one across the face of goal after De Bruyne had put him through again.
Then, De Bruyne got his goal on the hour mark. He started a smart passing move and when Bernard Silva stood aside he took up the ball again before sliding it past Fabianski and into the net.
West Ham didn’t look like they were scrapping for their lives and it was case of damage limitation as the Hammers went deeper and deeper. Fabianski was called on again to deny Jesus from point-blank range after more great work from De Bruyne.
David Moyes threw on his new £25m signing Jarred Bowen with barely 10 minutes left, but he couldn’t make an impact as City played out time with ease.
It was the perfect warm-up for City ahead of next week’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid!
Key statistics
The Sky Blues totally dominated the first half with 15 shots to West Ham’s one and five to nil on target. But they had only the one goal to show for it.
They scored another early in the second half and then took their foot off the gas, ending up with 20 shots to the Hammers’ three, and seven to nil on target.
It hardly came as a surprise as the Hammers have a wretched record against the Sky Blues. They have conceded goals in their last 15 meetings with City, last keeping a clean sheet in 2012.
City boss Pep Guardiola has won all nine of his meetings with West Ham, and his team has won their last eight Premier League games against the Hammers, scoring 25 and conceding just three.
What’s next?
Well, it doesn’t get any easier for West Ham as they return to the Northwest hotbed of football on Monday to face champions-elect Liverpool. The Hammers fans won’t want to look at the Premier League table but, suffice to say, they are still in the drop zone.
After visiting Anfield, David Moyes must prepare his side for another set of difficult fixtures, starting with a clash against in-form Southampton, and then four games against teams chasing Europe: Arsenal, Wolves, Spurs and Chelsea.
We’ll be following all the twists and turns as they happen right here at SBOBET.
And even though the league title race is pretty much done and dusted, Manchester City have two big games over the next seven days.
Firstly, they visit Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon before heading off to Spain for a round of 16 Champions League clash with Real Madrid. And there’s a bucket load of intrigue attached to that game in the wake of UEFA handing out a two-year ban to the Sky Blues.
City’s lawyers seem confident that they have a good case to get the ban overturned but the players won’t need any firing up for that game.
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