Clinical Manchester City thrash West Ham to close in on title rivals
Manchester City are now level on points with fourth place Liverpool and only one point adrift of second place Tottenham after running out comfortable 4-0 winners against West Ham at the London Stadium on Wednesday night.
Pep Guardiola has come under heavy criticism in recent weeks and already conceded he has tried to change too much at City too quickly, but he got everything spot on against the Hammers as fans were given a breathtaking glimpse of what is to come from some of the club’s exuberant young forwards.
The Spaniard opted to drop star striker Sergio Aguero to the bench and give Gabriel Jesus his first league start after impressing in his two previous outings for the club since his £27.5m arrival from Brazilian champions Palmeiras at the start of the year.
Jesus, 19, displayed some bright touches early on and would become the seventh Brazilian to score for City in the Premier League midway through the first half but he was just part of a frightening front five on display in east London. In fact, it was the traps set by Guardiola’s team that proved West Ham’s undoing in a devastating first half that saw City go 3-0 up at the break.
Aaron Cresswell’s shocking pass into space after 17 minutes allowed City to break with Jesus rolling the ball perfectly into the path of an on rushing Kevin de Bruyne, who showed great composure to side foot beyond a rooted Darren Randolph to kick start the rampage. It was Cresswell’s 10th error that has led to an opposition goal in the last three seasons- no outfielder has committed more in that time.
One become two just three minutes later as Sane, who turned in his best performance in a City shirt to date, danced his way around two West Ham defenders before delivering the ball across the box for David Silva to net unmarked at the far post. Surprisingly, that was Silva’s first away goal in the Premier League since August 2015 (vs West Brom).
Guardiola’s side would have a third with six minutes of the first half remaining - three more goals than they’d managed in their last two away league games combined. Raheem Sterling, who had given the West Ham defence their warning by getting in behind them before, selflessly passed the ball into the path of Jesus who made no mistake in netting his first of what looks like many City goals.
For all of City’s dominance (73% possession in the first half), West Ham did have the chance to cut the deficit when 2-0 down but Cresswell, released through on goal superbly by Andy Carroll, ballooned his effort high over an onrushing Willy Caballero, who was kept in the team ahead of an underfire Claudio Bravo.
Things didn’t get much better for the Hammers after the break, either. Sterling’s been unfortunate not to have won City a few more penalties this season, but was finally rewarded when chopped down by West Ham debutant Jose Fonte with more than 20 minutes remaining. Only Jamie Vardy (10) has won more penalties in the last four Premier League campaigns than Sterling (8) and the England international was keen to take the penalty he deservedly won before Yaya Toure pulled rank and converted from the spot. It was the Ivorian’s fourth goal of the season, all of which have come away from home.
City dropped back into second gear for the remainder of the second half to complete a thoroughly professional job and move closer to those in the top four. Guardiola’s side have now put 12 goals past West Ham in three matches this season and will carry their momentum into what is a huge next run of fixtures as they look to claw their way back into contention in spots for a Champions League finish.
