Jamie Jackson was at the Etihad to see City stretch their lead to 13 points. His report has landed. Your final task of this MBM: to click and enjoy. Thanks for reading!
David Moyes takes his turn. “I thought we did a good job against a really good side ... just disappointed that we get a chance with the last kick of the game, to get an equaliser, and we don’t ... but even so I have to say well done to the players for the performance ... we worked really hard and were unfortunate not to come away with something ... I’m pleased to see John Stones is back in form and doing so well, though I wish he hadn’t scored today!”
Pep talks to BT Sport. “Being fourth in the table means a lot ... they have quality with Lingard and Fornals ... after 50 minutes we knew we were not going to paint something beautiful ... it was all about getting the three points ... after the Champions League game with just two days, it’s normal these kind of things happen.” Which is pretty much the same point regarding scheduling that Jurgen Klopp made at Brighton back in November, albeit more sarcastically. Des Kelly lets it slide this time.
The match-winner John Stones gives “a lot of credit” to West Ham. “Their position in the table speaks for itself ... we’re really satisfied ... we weren’t at our free-flowing football, but that’s how they set up against us ... some days it doesn’t come off for the forwards, and today me and Ruben chipped in ... we’re just glad to keep this winning run going.”
That result puts Manchester City 13 points clear (62) of Manchester United and Leicester (49) at the top. West Ham remain in fourth (45) but will be usurped by Chelsea (43) tomorrow if Thomas Tuchel’s honeymoon continues with a win at Stamford Bridge over Manchester United.
FULL TIME: Manchester City 2-1 West Ham United
City win their 20th game in a row! But they were made to work hard for it by an impressive West Ham side.
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90 min +4: A huge chance for West Ham! Lingard drives down the inside-right channel and curls towards Diop, who has found space between Stones and Dias! Diop heads wide right when he surely should have scored. What a miss.
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90 min +3: Bowen bursts down the left and is unceremoniously checked by Fernandinho, who is booked as a result.
90 min +2: Jesus clumsily bowls Lingard to the floor, and it’s another chance for West Ham to throw something into the City box. Lingard swings it in. Ederson claims, and Soucek had fouled Stones in any case. Free kick.
90 min +1: West Ham win a corner down the right, but do nothing with it.
90 min: There will be four added minutes.
89 min: Rodri comes on for Gundogan.
87 min: Cresswell takes, but Dias clears with ease.
86 min: Benrahma and Lingard combine to bust out of a tight spot on the left. Lingard dribbles infield and is brought down by Fernandinho. Free kick in a very dangerous position.
84 min: A double change for West Ham, Bowen and Benrahma coming on for Antonio and Johnson. They’ll go four at the back for the last few minutes as they chase the equaliser.
82 min: Foden wins a corner down the left and takes it himself. Randolph punches clear under pressure. West Ham are beginning to tire, having put in quite the shift.
81 min: City continue to do their thing. Activity on the West Ham bench, but they can’t do anything while the hosts stroke it about.
79 min: Mahrez shoots. It’s deflected out for a corner. Nothing comes of it, but City are in complete control now. Twenty in a row is very much on. What’s left to conquer for City in the Premier League? Stuart Arden has an idea: “Never mind the midfielders, perhaps Pep’s next team will be entirely built from centre backs.”
77 min: City draw a little of the sting from the game, stroking it around in the sterile fashion.
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75 min: Ederson is fine, back up and about.
74 min: ... but the keeper stays down, having taken a whack to the ribcage. City will hope he’s just winded, but on come the physios.
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73 min: A free kick for West Ham out on the right. Lingard sends a garryowen into the City box. Ederson does extremely well to leap and claim under pressure from Dawson.
72 min: As things stand, City will go 13 points clear of neighbours United at the top.
70 min: West Ham have been magnificent, City slightly under par. But look at the scoreline. Never mind the obvious quality: what moxie this Manchester City side possesses!
GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 West Ham United (Stones 68)
Dawson half-clears Mahrez’s corner. City recycle. Zinchenko slips Mahrez into space down the right. Mahrez twists Johnson’s blood, then pulls back for Stones, who sweeps majestically into the bottom left! Beautifully worked!
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67 min: Jesus and Foden hassle Coufal down the City left. Coufal is forced to handle. Free kick. Foden loops it in. Coufal eyebrows it out for a corner on the right.
65 min: Pep makes his second tweak to the slightly misfiring City machine. Torres is replaced by Foden.
64 min: West Ham come at City on the counter again, Lingard nearly releasing Coufal down the right. Yet again the final ball is lacking; yet again City were backpedalling in a panic. This is a really impressive performance by West Ham.
63 min: City knock it around, but West Ham are set firm. City need a spark. They’re missing the free-jazz stylings of Cancelo.
61 min: Pep blinks first. Off goes the ring-rusty Aguero, on comes Jesus.
60 min: Torres drifts in from the left and sets a curler towards the top right. Diop blocks bravely. Randolph was at full stretch, preparing to tip round, so hopefully that’s a positive sign regarding any injury.
58 min: So close at both ends! Torres gives the ball away cheaply to Fornals, who advances into the City box, over-elaborates, then nearly finds Soucek on the penalty spot. City break through De Bruyne, who strides magnificently down the left, enters the West Ham area, and whistles a come-and-tap-me-in ball through the six-yard area. Nobody there. This is a great game!
56 min: Lingard fizzes down the middle, with Soucek to his left and Antonio to his right. He can’t quite find the defence-splitting pass, but he continues to impress. He’s looked on top of his game since joining on loan from Manchester United.
55 min: A bit of space for Walker down the inside-right channel. He decides to roll the dice from distance, but drags a low shot well wide left.
54 min: West Ham look very comfortable at the moment. But of course we’ve been here before.
52 min: The corner is a complete waste of time, hoicked miles over Dawson’s head, and West Ham’s big men race back to their positions.
51 min: Antonio spins Walker elegantly down the left and wins a corner off the City full-back. A chance for West Ham to load the box with the big lads.
50 min: A pause in play as Randolph receives treatment. He looks to have pulled something while taking a goal kick. He’s good to continue for now, but he doesn’t look particularly comfortable and Martin warms up, just in case.
48 min: Lingard turns on the jets and romps down the inside-left channel. Fernandinho blocks him beautifully on the edge of the box. Had that been mistimed by so much as a millisecond, it’d have been a penalty. As it was, that’s a sensational defensive challenge.
47 min: City are on the front foot quickly, Mahrez sweeping a cross in from the right. Randolph sees it out for a goal kick without drama.
City get the second half underway. They’ve got 45 minutes to keep this absurd winning run of theirs going. No changes.
Your half-time chores. Make cup of tea, eat snack, visit the Little Room, ablute, subscribe to occasionally mildly amusing tea-time email. Be about your business!
HALF TIME: Manchester City 1-1 West Ham United
City have been imperious in patches, but West Ham have also been excellent, resolute in defence and lively in attack. The visitors deserve to be level, and a 20th win on the bounce is by no means a shoo-in for the league leaders. An exciting second half awaits!
45 min: West Ham have City on the run again, hectically scuttling backwards as Lingard and Antonio launch a quick counter attack. Lingard picks the wrong pass, or Antonio makes the wrong run, depending on which way you read it. Whatever, the move peters out.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 West Ham United (Antonio 43)
You know what, this had been coming. West Ham play City at their own game, pressing high up the pitch. They win the ball and slip wide right for Coufal, who is in acres. Coufal crosses low. Lingard flicks towards the bottom left, where Antonio is on hand to trundle in from a yard or two. West Ham deserve this!
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42 min: Lingard probes down the right, with City again on the back foot. He can’t find the killer pass, but he’s been really lively this afternoon.
40 min: It’s possible, had Antonio scored, that VAR would have fingered Lingard for being a shade offside. But it would have been close, and the naked eye sees nothing these days.
39 min: West Ham come so close to equalising! Dawson sprays a glorious pass wide right for Soucek, who feeds Lingard down the wing. Lingard crosses. Fornals swipes and misses. Antonio, on the penalty spot, traps, swivels, and drags a shot towards the bottom left. It clips the outside of the post and out. What a fine move.
37 min: City are oozing class now, spraying it about hither and yon. Gundogan and De Bruyne take turns to bring down awkward balls and wriggle out of tight spots. Mahrez sprays a pass wide for Walker, whose fierce low cross is blocked. This is lovely to watch.
35 min: De Bruyne whips in from the left this time. Randoph stoops to claim with safe hands, a fine intervention with City shirts lurking around him.
33 min: Poor West Ham, they’d started so well, too.
32 min: Walker goes long, and the suddenly extremely busy Randolph is forced to race from his box and blooter clear under pressure from the storming Aguero.
31 min: The City tails are up now, Torres whistling a shot straight at Randolph. West Ham try to respond positively, Fornals nearly reaching a long pass down the right channel, but the ball pings off him for a goal kick.
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GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 West Ham United (Dias 30)
... but City recycle possession down the right. De Bruyne fires a heatseeking cross towards Stones and Dias at the far post. Dias gets there, rising high and battering a header past Randolph, who finally has something to do, picking the ball from his net.
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29 min: Johnson doesn’t seem on it this afternoon, and he’s now booked for hauling Mahrez down, a cheeky tug on the shoulder. It might be a long shift now for the young left-back. The resulting free kick leads to a corner, which leads to nothing.
27 min: West Ham sweep upfield, Coufal, Soucek, Antonio and Lingard combining well, from the right-back position to the left wing. Johnson lets everyone down with a poor pass infield, Walker intercepting, West Ham having committed men in attack. Shame, that was a fine flowing move.
26 min: In fact, City haven’t had an attempt on goal yet, either on or off target. David Moyes will be extremely happy with the way this is going.
25 min: Aguero tries to spin Coufal down the inside-left channel. He’s clipped. Nothing comes of the resulting free kick, and Aguero is a picture of frustration. A big frown. He’s been waiting for this for months, and City haven’t worked an opening of not yet.
23 min: West Ham have the air of confident men. No wonder: only City are ahead of them in the recent form table.
21 min: Torres and De Bruyne attempt to open up West Ham with a crisp one-two down the left. Too crisp. Goal kick. West Ham continue to hold firm.
19 min: Cresswell slips a pass infield from the left. Lingard loops it to Soucek at the far post. Soucek heads back across goal, hoping to tee up Antonio. Ederson and Zinchenko get in an awful muddle, clattering into each other, the keeper flapping, but the ball doesn’t drop to Antonio. Lingard has a slam from a tight angle on the left. Just a corner, that leads to nothing, but for a second there City were in panic mode.
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17 min: De Bruyne tries again down the inside-left flank, and nearly releases Aguero into the box with a through ball. But the West Ham gate slams shut again.
15 min: Lingard has a probe down the left but City swarm him and he’s forced to turn tail. West Ham will be happy enough with their start, though.
14 min: You can’t keep De Bruyne quiet for too long, though, and here he zips past three men down the inside-left channel, bursting into the box and cutting back for Torres. A fresh-air swipe allows Rice to clear, though the West Ham captain takes a whack in his Special Zone and is forced to take a couple of sharp intakes of breath.
12 min: Mahrez troubles Johnson again down the right, and draws a foul. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box for the free kick. De Bruyne’s delivery is uncharacteristically woeful, and easily cleared by the West Ham defence.
11 min: Some space for Mahrez down the right. He drops a shoulder to glide past Johnson, but his curl into the box is headed away easily by Dawson.
10 min: West Ham seem happy to commit men in attack. Rice bursts down the middle and feeds Soucek, who nearly finds Coufal romping down the right. Zinchenko reads the danger and intercepts without fuss.
8 min: City go again with the metronomic passing. The Hammers are holding their shape well, though, and City haven’t achieved anything in the final third yet.
6 min: Ederson plays a ludicrous pass out from the back, towards Fernandinho, who has Soucek right on his shoulder. Fernandinho flicks away from danger just in time. Soucek slides in, and it’s a foul, but he was entitled to compete for that. City’s keeper gets away with one.
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4 min: De Bruyne’s fancy flick down the left nearly releases Gundogan into the box. West Ham clear long, and Dias deals with the situation under pressure from Lingard and Antonio. A sign that West Ham will be happy to press high up the pitch and ask City a few questions, perhaps.
2 min: It’s not long before City are pinging the passes around in a very confident style, befitting a team on a 19-win tear-up.
West Ham get the ball rolling ... but only after the knee is taken. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
The teams are out! City wear their sky blue, while West Ham sport third-choice black. We’ll be off sooner rather than later.
Both of the managers have been talking to BT Sport. Nothing much to report, other than Fabianski had his arm “stood on” during training and it’s “swollen up”. Guardiola and Moyes both agree that City are in good nick right now. “We have a fantastic squad and everyone deserves to play,” Pep says, while Moyes adds: “They’re a test for anybody ... they’re the in-form side ... their squad is so strong and they’re fit as well ... they’ve got a very strong team.” And that’s all they wrote.
The big news: Sergio Aguero is back, making his first start for City since October, when he faced ... West Ham. He’s one of seven changes to the team that won in Monchengladbach during the week. Also back in: John Stones, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kevin De Bruyne, Ferran Torres, Fernandinho and Riyad Mahrez. Dropping to the bench: Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus. It’s fair to say City have a decent squad.
West Ham make two changes to the side that beat Spurs last weekend. Lukasz Fabianski injured his elbow in training, so Darren Randolph pulls on the gloves. Jarrod Bowen makes way for Ben Johnson.
The teams
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Mahrez, Aguero, Torres.
Subs: Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Steffen, Laporte, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Mendy, Joao Cancelo, Foden.
West Ham United: Randolph, Diop, Dawson, Cresswell, Coufal, Soucek, Rice, Johnson, Fornals, Lingard, Antonio.
Subs: Balbuena, Benrahma, Lanzini, Noble, Bowen, Martin, Trott, Odubeko.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
Preamble
Manchester City are hoping to make it 20 wins in a row in all competitions today. Twenty in a row! This carry-on is beyond outrageous, but City’s amazing run can be partially explained by Pep Guardiola’s mindset, and his ability to compartmentalise, taking things one careful step at a time. “The challenge is not to win 20 or 21, the challenge is to beat West Ham. This is the only challenge that we have. The results are a consequence of what we do day by day. When you win you are a genius and when you lose you are a disaster. I don’t listen much.”
City have done much of this without the injured Kevin De Bruyne, who could return to the starting XI this weekend. “He’s fully fit.” Three small words from Pep that will send a shiver down the division and up David Moyes’ spine. The Hammers have lost on their last four visits to the Etihad, and have been on the wrong end of some City spankings in the last few years: two 5-0s, a couple of 4-0s, and a 4-1. But they did grind out a draw at the London Stadium back in October, and they’re fourth in the league right now, deservedly so. City are strong favourites, of course they are, but all hope is not lost.
Kick off: 12.30pm.
