Jamie Jackson's match report
There’s no sign of Pep Guardiola haranguing any West Ham players after the final whistle. He must have appreciated their effort. It wasn’t enough for them to claim an unlikely point, though, even though they led thanks to Angelo Ogbonna’s goal at half-time. West Ham leave with nothing despite an improved defensive performance and remain in 19th place, winless under David Moyes and three points off 17th place before hosting Chelsea and Arsenal next. The points belong to City. The leaders were off colour, but they responded in the second half, equalising through Nicolas Otamendi before David Silva earned them another late win. It’s City’s 13th successive victory, equalling the Premier League record, and their eight-point lead over Manchester United is back - just in time for next week’s trip to Old Trafford. Thanks for emailing and reading. Bye.
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Full-time: Manchester City 2-1 West Ham
City have done it again.
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90 min+4: Adrian charges out of his area to try to beat Jesus to the ball on the right. He’s committed himself and once he’s realised he’s losing the race, he slides in to bring the striker down and earns a booking.
90 min+3: Bernardo Silva replaces Leroy Sane.
90 min+1: Arnautovic hassles Mangala on the right, showing good strength to bully the defender off the ball before making off with it. The Austrian looks up and cuts the ball back to Sakho, who clips a low shot just wide of the left post! What a chance for West Ham! Guardiola is absolutely livid with Mangala, who looks like he’s injured himself in the process.
88 min: Andre Ayew replaces the knackered Antonio.
87 min: City get a bit too cocky and West Ham win back possession in a threatening position. Arnautovic hangs a ball into the middle from the left - but it’s just too high for the unmarked Antonio! That was a scare for City. Antonio, meanwhile, has gone down clutching the back of his right leg. It looks like cramp.
86 min: City are now indulging themselves in some keep ball.
85 min: Fernandino replaces Sergio Aguero. What a ball that was from De Bruyne, who was having one of his quieter games.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 West Ham (Silva, 83 min)
They’ve done it again! And this is superb. Kevin de Bruyne finally earns a yard of space and he takes advantage of it with an insouciant curling ball over the West Ham defence. Rice hasn’t realised that Silva has run behind him and the Spaniard adjusts brilliantly to hang out his left leg and divert a low volley past the distraught Adrian from close range! City’s patience has been rewarded and West Ham, utterly shattered, are heartbroken.
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81 min: West Ham break at last and Antonio almost restores their lead! He steams inside from the left, on to his right foot, and hammers a rising shot towards the far corner, only for Ederson to make a fine save!
80 min: Fernandes, I think, goes down in the middle of West Ham’s half. There was no foul, though. City play on. The pressure is relentless here. But West Ham are protecting Adrian with so much heart.
79 min: Aguero’s shot from the edge of the area is charged down. Time is running out for City, even though West Ham are locked into their own area. But they do have a habit of scoring late goals.
77 min: City play around with the thing inside West Ham’s area. Silva turns and sees a shot blocked. Jesus tries to force in the loose ball, but he has to settle for a corner. The pressure grows.
76 min: Antonio charges off in pursuit of a long ball and almost nicks it off the dawdling Mangala. Almost.
75 min: West Ham are no longer attacking. Adrian wants them to push up. It’s not happening.
73 min: Walker skips round Masuaku on the right, but his inviting cross flashes across the face of goal, no City player attacking it in the six-yard box. Walker is entitled to ask why.
71 min: Gabriel Jesus receives a pass with his back to goal on the edge of the area, turns and tries to bend a careful shot into the right corner. Adrian, however, reads his intentions and dives to get a hand to it! Sterling hurtles in, with the goal vacant, but his timing is off and he miscontrols, allowing the visitors to hack the ball clear! What a let-off for West Ham! Adrian is having a bit of a stormer.
70 min: De Bruyne’s deflected shot from 20 yards is straight at Adrian. West Ham have 20 minutes to hold on.
69 min: Marko Arnautovic replaces Manuel Lanzini.
68 min: Sane has another go, but this one flies off target from 20 yards.
67 min: Sane runs at the isolated Zabaleta, swerves to the left and thumps a shot goalwards. Adrian is equal to it again, parrying the ball to safety.
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66 min: Silva smacks a shot well over from 20 yards. There have been a few wild efforts from City today. They still aren’t looking particularly impressive.
64 min: Sane flattens Cresswell with a powerful shot. It looked like the defender handled it, mind you. Maybe he was playacting to throw Mike Dean off the scent.
63 min: De Bruyne shoots over from long range. “Just thought I mention that Delph dived shamelessly to win that free kick,” says Darren MacGowan. “It was egregious.”
62 min: Walker bursts inside from the right and stabs a pass through to Jesus. The Brazilian’s hooked volley is deflected wide by Rice. West Ham clear the corner.
61 min: Sane tricks his way into the area on the left, moving the ball on to his right foot, but Adrian dives to his right to beat the winger’s rising shot away.
59 min: De Bruyne is booked for tripping Masuaku.
58 min: Expect City to turn the screw now. West Ham are going to have show so much character.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 West Ham (Otamendi, 57 min)
The pressure didn’t subside, however, and West Ham finally crack! Gabriel Jesus makes his first helpful contribution since coming on, driving into the area from the right and hammering a low ball into the six-yard box. It’s past Adrian and Otamendi bundles it in off Rice!
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56 min: De Bruyne really does fancy it. He curls the ball around the wall viciously, but Adrian flies to his left to push it away!
55 min: City have had the ball for ages. Sterling has a shot blocked on the edge of the area. Delph goes on a dribble, twisting in between two defenders before being chopped down on the edge of the area by Rice, who does well to avoid a second booking. De Bruyne fancies this. This is a huge chance for the Belgian.
54 min: West Ham are very deep. They haven’t had the ball for a while.
53 min: City patiently probe on the edge of the area. The ball comes to Sane on the left. He pushes Zabaleta back before finding Sterling, whose low shot hits the offside Sterling. That was City’s clearest opening so far.
51 min: Masuaku has a sighter from 30 yards. It bounces in front of Ederson, who makes an easy save. West Ham have made a decent start to the second half. The home fans are turning up the volume now.
48 min: Lanzini is down after getting clobbered by the clumsy Mangala. He needs some treatment, but he should be okay.
47 min: Obiang tugs De Bruyne back on the right and concedes a free-kick. Adrian punches De Bruyne’s delivery clear, though.
46 min: West Ham - who are winning - get the second half underway. City are in a 4-2-4 system now. “It’s the hope that kills,” says Tom Shaw. “Forty five minutes of pure torture looms ahead.”
Manchester City are making a change: Gabriel Jesus is replacing Danilo.
Yes, it's true. Man City to win 8-0 tomorrow is shorter odds (70/1) than for West Ham to win 1-0 (90/1) 😳😳 pic.twitter.com/zttDLVnGd9
— Coral (@Coral) December 2, 2017
Half-time: Manchester City 0-1 West Ham
Mike Dean brings an end to a brilliant half for David Moyes’s struggling side. Against all expectations, they’re in front at the home of the leaders thanks to Angelo Ogbonna’s header. They deserve to be ahead and they’re restoring a lot of pride here. Whether they can hold on, though, remains to be seen. Expect Pep Guardiola to tear into his lethargic players during the break. Jose Mourinho is the world’s biggest West Ham supporter at the moment. See you in 15 minutes.
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45 min+4: City’s supporters don’t seem to know how to react. This wasn’t in the script. There are a few howls as another pass goes astray.
45 min+3: Ogbonna has scored a few big goals for West Ham - the defender got a 120th minute winner against Liverpool in the FA Cup two years ago and the decisive goal in the recent League Cup win over Tottenham.
45 min+2: Silva slips a pass through to Aguero, who’s offside as he sees his shot saved by Adrian.
45 min+1: West Ham merit this lead, having defended well and caused a lethargic City a few problems, but they’ll face four minutes of stoppage time.
GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 West Ham (Ogbonna, 45 min)
Do not adjust your screens. West Ham take the corner short, Cresswell knocking it back to Lanzini. The Argentinian assesses his options before playing it back to Cresswell, who curls a fine ball into the middle. And no one is close enough to Ogbonna, who rises to thump a low header to Ederson’s right. The goalkeeper gets his hand to the ball, but he can’t keep it out and this is preposterous!
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44 min: West Ham break through the middle and Sakho is quickly involved. He shoots hopefully from the right and wins a corner, the ball spinning behind off Mangala.
43 min: Cheikhou Kouyate can’t continue. He looks miffed. Diafra Sakho replaces the midfielder and will go up front. Aguero, meanwhile, has had one touch in West Ham’s area.
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42 min: This is turning into a big test for City. Manchester United’s win at Arsenal yesterday cut the lead to five points and City haven’t responded yet. They’re allowing this first half to drift away.
40 min: Kouyate wants to continue. West Ham are down to 10 men for the time being. Not for too long, though. Kouyate is back on.
38 min: Walker wallops a shot over from 35 yards. Guardiola looks unimpressed. West Ham have a problem, though. Kouyate has gone down with what looks like a hamstring problem.
37 min: Sane’s shot is deflected over for a corner.
36 min: Cresswell fails to beat the first man with his corner. A waste.
35 min: Sane and Sterling have barely been in the game at all. De Bruyne has offered little. Aguero hasn’t had a shot yet. Moyes must be loving this. And West Ham are growing in confidence. Lanzini, finally on the ball in a meaningful position, finds Antonio on the right of the area. He can’t sort his feet out, but a loose tackle inadvertently takes the ball through to Lanzini. From a tight angle, he hammers a shot at Ederson, who pushes it wide at his near post. That’s probably the best chance of the first half so far.
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34 min: This is quite a dull game, but that’s making it strangely absorbing. When will City wake up? How long can West Ham maintain this level of organisation?
33 min: The free-kick’s clipped down the left channel by Cresswell, Antonio peeling behind Walker and running through to face Ederson. The flag’s up for offside, though.
32 min: Masuaku has a saunter down the left. Otamendi cynically brings him down but gets away without a booking.
30 min: West Ham are defending very well. City aren’t sure how to get through them. You suspect, though, that they’ll work it out eventually.
29 min: I don’t think Lanzini has had a touch yet.
27 min: West Ham haven’t been allowed out of their final third in the last few minutes, but the pressure comes to an end when Sterling whacks a poor shot high and wide from 20 yards.
25 min: De Bruyne flicks a pass from right to left with the outside of his right foot. Delph dummies it, opening up space for Silva, who decides to let fly from 25 yards. Adrian’s finally brought into action, turning the ball over the bar. It was a fearsomely struck shot from Silva, although it was right above Adrian, who would have been disappointed if he had let that in. The corner comes to nothing. But City have West Ham pinned back at the moment.
24 min: Adrian still hasn’t had to make a save. All hail The Moyesiah!
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21 min: Sterling thumps a long ball in Aguero’s general direction. Adrian collects. Guardiola is annoyed. If only he had Nathan Redmond.
20 min: It’s still goalless! A crossfield pass bounces over Sane’s head and out for a throw.
19 min: It’s a bit slow from City at the moment. It almost feels like they’re waiting for a goal to come, but West Ham’s deep defence is making it difficult for them. Jose Mourinho will approve.
17 min: Walker makes a mess of getting the ball out of a tight spot on the right and ends up losing the ball. Masuaku seizes possession and whacks a hard, low ball into the six-yard box. Ederson, Mangala and Antonio all go for it. The ball briefly squirms clear but Antonio has fallen over, enabling Ederson to smother it. Up the other end, Rice is booked for a foul on Aguero.
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16 min: More timewasting at a goal-kick from Adrian. There are a few whistles from the crowd. He’ll get booked soon.
14 min: De Bruyne whips in a bouncing, awkward cross from the right. Sane goes for it, but it’s too close to Adrian. “Earliest I’ve left a game?” says Ian. “West Ham 2-2 Manchester United in 1996. I left on 60 minutes with us 2 down to go on a first date with my future wife. First impressions and all that. Didn’t want to be late........ I missed Julian dicks’ hardest ever penalty strike and the only 10 minutes Florin ‘Harvey Nicks’ Raducioiu was any good for us.”
12 min: Masuaku loses possession deep on the left and City pounce on the error, De Bruyne striding through the middle before locating Silva. Again, though, Silva’s radar is slightly off as he tries to find Sane.
11 min: David Silva is finding too much space in dangerous positions. His one-two with Danilo doesn’t quite come off here, though, the pass from Silva too heavy. The ball goes behind for a goal-kick. Adrian takes his sweet time punting it forward and gets a warning from Mike Dean about timewasting.
9 min: City haven’t really got going yet. Adrian hasn’t had anything to do. West Ham have this in the bag.
7 min: Michail Antonio, ever willing, rumbles down the right flank after reaching a long pass. He does well to win a corner. “As a loyal and faithful West Ham fan of many years standing I’m going for a tight, low scoring game which finishes only 7-0 to City,” says Tom Shaw. “One has to be optimistic.” But Tom, City do struggle with corners! What can West Ham do here? They ... almost score. Cresswell curls it in from the right, it’s flicked on and Antonio can’t quite turn it in on the stretch at the far post!
6 min: David Moyes once faced Pep Guardiola in a Champions League quarter-final!
4 min: City are being allowed to do as they please at the moment. West Ham are sitting back and standing off them. They’ve set their stall out already. City win a corner. Silva whips it to the near post and Mangala heads wide under pressure. At which point we get a replay of Sterling’s penalty appeal. There was nothing in it. In fact, it was a bit of a dive from the winger.
3 min: Delph has a pop from 30 yards. No.
2 min: De Bruyne takes the corner short and the ball’s eventually worked into the feet of Sterling. He tries to wriggles through on the right and falls to the turf, turning to Mike Dean and claiming that his heels have been clipped. The referee isn’t interested.
Peep! Off we go. Manchester City, in light blue, get the game underway. West Ham are in navy. City are attacking from left to right in the first half and West Ham are immediately into their 10-0-0 formation. Aguero curls a cross to the far post from the left and Masuaku heads behind for a corner.
Pablo Zabaleta is given a great reception by the Manchester City fans. Maybe Leroy Sane will take pity on him.
There’s talk that West Ham are lining up with a back three. On Sky, Jamie Carragher is asked what he’s expecting from them. “Not much.” The teams are out. We’ll be underway soon.
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Not that he was to blame, but Adrian was in goal when West Ham lost 6-0 away to Manchester City in their League Cup semi in 2014. Can they go one better today?
David Moyes speaks! He notes that West Ham will have to defend well and score some goals. “We’ve made a couple of changes. Two were enforced. Winston Reid was injured and Joe Hart can’t play. We need to make it as hard as possible for them. We’re without at least three centre-halves today. We’re without two or three senior ones who we could have done with. We’re in a difficult run of games. I’m here a couple of weeks and we’ve got a couple of biggies coming up.”
What’s the earliest you’ve ever left a game in disgust? Mine is Bolton 4-0 West Ham in December 2006. I walked out when Alan Pardew, who was about to be sacked, subbed off Carlos Tevez after an hour. Kevin Davies had just scored his second.
Andre Ayew cost £20m! Marko Arnautovic cost £24m! West Ham have seven outfield players missing and those two are still on the bench!
Once you’ve seen a couple of relegations, you can spot the warning signs. Stupid signings. Not enough signings. A miserable start despite a promising run of fixtures. Throwing away points late on. Hammerings. A lack of team spirit. Awful defending. An injury crisis. No fit strikers. Prima donna players. And above all, a failure to realise how bad you are until it’s too late.
Manchester City make four changes to the team that beat Southampton on Wednesday. In come Eliaquim Mangala, Danilo, David Silva and Leroy Sane, out go Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus. It’s a fairly strong starting 11. Watch out for Leroy Sane, though - the winger’s a booking away from a ban and the Manchester derby is next week.
West Ham also shake things up after their midweek disaster at Goodison Park. Expensive misfits Andre Ayew and Marko Arnautovic are dropped after poor performances against Everton. Michail Antonio starts up front, Edimilson Fernandes comes into a packed midfield, Adrian replaces the ineligible Joe Hart and young Declan Rice replaces the injured Winston Reid in central defence. This is not a line-up to inspire confidence about West Ham’s chances. They’ve arrived in Manchester with a yawning injury list - Sam Byram, Andy Carroll, James Collins, Jose Fonte, Javier Hernandez, Mark Noble and Reid are all out - so there are four untried academy players on the bench. Poor Moyesie.
Team news
Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Otamendi, Mangala, Danilo; Delph; Sterling, De Bruyne, D Silva, Sane; Aguero. Subs: Bravo, Yaya Toure, Gundogan, Fernandinho, B Silva, Jesus, Kompany
West Ham: Adrian; Zabaleta, Rice, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Obiang, Fernandes, Kouyate; Lanzini, Antonio, Masuaku. Subs: Trott, Johnson, Quina, Sakho, Ayew, Arnautovic, Martinez.
Referee: Mike Dean
Preamble
Hello. There was a time when Manchester City and West Ham were spiritual companions, separated by geography but united by farcical tendencies and the irritation of having to live in the shadow of wealthier neighbours. Not so much any more, though. That kind of relationship no longer exists. One party has been life behind to fester in their limitations. For while Cityitis has been eradicated by a combination of oil riches, Catalan genius and a very clever Belgian who’s known as Ginger Kev in Manchester, West Ham remain a ragtag bunch, so bad at this football business that they’re capable of being beaten out of sight by David Unsworth’s Everton, so incompetent they let Wazziesta score a hat-trick against them.
This one could get ugly. It could be the footballing equivalent of Homer Simpson pummelling the Hamburglar to death. “Stop! Stop!” we’ll cry, perhaps in the 27th minute, or maybe the 28th. “They’re already dead.” To put it in context, to can get better odds on City winning this 8-0 than West Ham winning 1-0. That might sound absurd, but there’s no failure of logic here. Consider the evidence. City have scored roughly one million goals this season, while West Ham have conceded roughly one million goals and are winless under their inspirational new manager. These are their results since David Moyes replaced Slaven Bilic: 0-2, 1-1, 0-4. They are 19th, have the worst defensive record in the league and have players so slow they’d probably lose a race with a Teletubby.
But wait! Haven’t City been a little leggy in the past week? Didn’t they need late goals against Feyernoord, Huddersfield and Southampton? Isn’t there manager more concerned with making sure Nathan Redmond does some dribbles than sorting out his team’s defending at set-pieces? All true. But City can make it 13 successive league wins here, equalling the record jointly held by previous champions (Arsenal in 2001-02, Chelsea last season), and I’ll be calling it one of the greatest acts of heroism in the Premier League era if this is still goalless after 20 minutes.
Kick-off: 4pm GMT.
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