West Ham United 1-3 Manchester City
Premier League, London Stadium, Saturday 21 August 2024, 5.30pm BST
West Ham United fell to a battling 3-1 defeat at home to Manchester City on Saturday evening.
Despite the Hammers starting the game on the front-foot, Julen Lopetegui’s side went a goal down on ten minutes to Erling Haaland’s well-taken finish, only for Rúben Dias’ own-goal to restore parity at London Stadium.
Haaland’s powerful effort gave the visitors the advantage for the second time on the half-hour mark, before the Norwegian’s deft finish put the seal on his hat-trick and City’s victory late on.
Trying to take points off Manchester City is a difficult task for any side. The visitors’ victory in east London was their fifth consecutive Premier League win over the Hammers, proving that it is just as difficult a task to beat Pep Guardiola’s side as it was to get your hands on a set of the highly sought-after Oasis tickets earlier on Saturday.
Poignant and moving tributes were held prior to kick-off as the two clubs came together to honour former England and City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson with a minute’s applause before kick-off.
Boss Julen Lopetegui made two changes to his starting XI from the Premier League victory over Crystal Palace, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka coming in to the back line for his full Premier League debut, while Edson Álvarez was involved from the start, having made his comeback from a hamstring injury from the bench at Selhurst Park.
West Ham started positively and two chances inside the opening five minutes yielded opportunities to strike first.
First, Mohammed Kudus delivered an inviting cross towards the back post for Michail Antonio, who looked destined to score, but he was only denied a goal by excellent defending from Joško Gvardiol.
Then, from the opposite flank, Jarrod Bowen’s long-range effort was punched away by Ederson.
Manchester City were slow out the traps, but provided a reminder of the threat they posed soon after, when Haaland headed over completely unmarked after being picked out by Jack Grealish.
The Hammers were the architects of their own downfall as the visitors’ opener was partly self-inflicted. Lucas Paquetá failed to adequately shield the ball under pressure from Bernardo Silva, who played Haaland through on goal and expertly finished into the far corner after skipping past the West Ham defence.
With the goal under their belts, City settled and went close to doubling their advantage when Kevin De Bruyne forced Alphonse Areola into a stunning one-handed before Jérémy Doku pulled the ball back for De Bruyne, who controlled and hit the post with a well-struck effort.
However, there was no panic from Lopetegui’s charges. The Irons showed patience to work their way into the game despite being under a barrage of Manchester City pressure and soon levelled in fortuitous circumstances as Bowen’s low cross deflected off Rúben Dias’ outstretched leg, which deceived Ederson and left him helpless.
It briefly sparked West Ham into life, but Haaland restored City's advantage on the half-hour mark, finishing off a free-flowing move that included Grealish, Mateo Kovačić and Rico Lewis. The Norwegian was given time and space to shoot on the edge of the Irons’ penalty area and blasted an unstoppable effort into the roof of the net.
And Pep Guardiola’s side could have further added to their advantage before the break, Lewis latching onto Haaland’s through ball only to shoot wastefully over the bar with the goal at his mercy, while De Bruyne curled a 25-yard free-kick narrowly over.
Just as they have in every outing so far this season, West Ham improved markedly after the restart and came within inches of levelling after 51 minutes, as the ball fell to Kudus at the end of a breathtaking counter-attack which also involved Bowen, but his effort came crashing back off the left post.
Roared on by a raucous home support inside London Stadium, the home side continued to push for a second leveller – and Guido Rodríguez was next to try his luck from distance, his shot sailing harmlessly wide.
Following a slightly quieter spell, Lopetegui turned to his bench, introducing Niclas Füllkrug and Tomáš Souček, who almost scored with his first touch as the two substitutes combined. Kudus’ low cross found Füllkrug, who held off his man to find Souček with an inviting lay-off. The Czech’s initial shot was blocked, before prodding wide at the second attempt with his left foot.
But, seven minutes from time, Manchester City wrapped up victory when Haaland completed his hat-trick, showing his composure and quality to deftly chip over the on-rushing Łukasz Fabiański, who had been largely untroubled throughout a quiet second half.
The Hammers almost netted a consolation deep in stoppage time, as substitute Crysencio Summerville's effort was somehow tipped onto the post by Ederson.
West Ham United: Areola (Fabiański 46), Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson (Coufal 71), Rodríguez, Álvarez (Souček 77), Paquetá, Bowen © (Summerville 86), Kudus, Antonio (Füllkrug 71)
Subs: Casey, Todibo, Irving, Guilherme
Goals: Dias og 19
Booked: Emerson, Kilman, Rodriguez
Manchester City: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol (Walker 88), Kovačić, Silva, Grealish (Nunes 72), De Bruyne © (Aké 88), Doku (Gündogan 68), Haaland
Subs: Ortega (GK), Stones, Rodri, O’Reilly, McAtee
Goals: Haaland 10, 30, 83
Booked: De Bruyne, Akanji
Referee: Michael Oliver
Attendance: 62,469
