West Ham 0-4 Manchester City
Can anyone get in the way of Manchester City? It’s beginning to look unlikely. West Ham aren’t the easiest place to go, but the Sky Blues had a picnic as Leroy Sane bagged a brace.
Three first-half goals turned the second half into a victory stroll, and this was against a side which had big wins over Manchester United and Everton while holding Chelsea to a draw. But former City boss Manuel Pellegrini could only watch as his Hammers were dismantled in the first 45.
So the big Saturday afternoon game, Premier League: West Ham vs Manchester City gave us more evidence, if we needed it, that Pep Guardiola’s team really is something special. One hundred points last season, and they are on target to do it again with 35 from 13 games. SBOBET Premier League 2018 could be yet another season of records for the Sky Blues.
Highlights of the game
City arrived on the back of a superb derby win before the international break, and they had an electric start at the London Stadium by going two up within twenty minutes. And the opener came from the Sky Blues’ most influential player over the past decade, David Silva. Kyle Walker passed to Raheem Sterling, and his cross was deflected into the path of Silva who beat Lukasz Fabianski with ease.
And then on 19 minutes, City strolled through the West Ham defence to add another. Leroy Sane beat former Sky Blue defender Pablo Zabaleta and crossed low and hard for the easiest of tap-ins for Sterling. The West Ham vs Manchester City betting odds favoured an away win from the off, but the odds on a City win had just shrunk out of sight.
The Hammers had a chance to pull one back when Marko Arnautovic was put in by Michail Antonio, but the Austrian’s shot was blocked by Walker. The West Ham fans were looking for a big performance from Arnautovic after his agent (and brother) had put out to the press that his client wanted to leave West Ham, leaving Pellegrini to insist his big striker is happy in East London.
There was not a lot Arnautovic could do when City as good as sealed the points before the break, as his defence stood and watched while Sterling volleyed a ball into Sane. After fooling Fabian Balbuena with a dummy, the German fired home to make it three.
It was all over by half-time, and the home fans must have feared the worst for the second 45. They were on their feet on the hour when substitute Javier Hernandez put Antonio through on goal, but his shot bounced away off the post.
Ilkay Gundogan almost made it 0-4, but Fabianski made a super save down at his near post before gathering the ball to deny Sergio Aguero.
City’s day and West Ham’s misery was complete in injury time when Gabriel Jesus crossed for Sane, who controlled before smashing the ball home for his second.
Key Statistics
David Silva’s opener was the fourth game in a row in which the mercurial Spaniard had scored; some record for a creator. West Ham must be sick of the sight of him. He’s been involved in ten goals against them, six of which he has scored and four were assisted.
In fact, the Hammers must be sick of the sight of Manchester City. West Ham vs Manchester City results never seem to go well for the Irons. The Sky Blues have won all five of their Premier League games with West Ham since Pep took over and have now scored four in their last three away games to the Hammers.
The Champions love a trip to the capital. They are the first team to win six top-flight games in a row in London since Portsmouth back in 1951.
What’s next?
The Sky Blues are looking like a good bet to retain their title after yet another big win, and Pep now turns his attention to the Champions League and a visit to Lyon. The Ligue 1 team stunned the Sky Blues at the start of the campaign and sit in second place in Group F. Following that, Bournemouth are the visitors at the Etihad. The Cherries have made a great start to this season but they’ll need a minor miracle to stop City in this mood.
The Hammers can get straight back to Premier League matters and have a run of fixtures which should wipe away the painful memory of today’s ordeal. They face Newcastle, Cardiff, Crystal Palace and Fulham in the next four games, and they should pick up a few points from that selection.
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