Thanks for your time this afternoon! Now there are a couple more MBMs for you ...
Man United v Arsenal with Rob Smyth:
Fiorentina v Napoli with ... errr ... me:
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Full-time: West Ham 1-4 Man City
We might have expected a more exciting second half but West Ham, who didn’t have an attack worthy of the name in the latter 45, were invisible and City came out firing. They’ve won this very comfortably, only those five late first-half minutes inconveniencing them, and West Ham must continue to sweat for the points that would pretty much keep them up.
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90 min: It’s not all smiles at City today by a long way. They’ve just been knocked out of the Women’s Champions League:
89 min: ... only for his effort to deflect off the ball and behind. The corner is then cleared.
88 min: Sane is toppled just outside the box and City, who have been winding this down lightly, have a chance for five. The away fans want Toure to take it; in fact they’ve been wanting Toure to shoot ever since he’s come on. And here comes Yaya ...
86 min: London Stadium looks very empty indeed. It’s just not working out there at all, is it?
84 min: Leicester away for the Hammers next – they’re really going to need a result now, aren’t they?
81 min: Really, those five minutes at the end of the first half aside, West Ham have been poor given the stakes they are playing for – despite the class of the opposition.
80 min: City have a corner but first we’ll see a league debut for 19-year-old England youth striker Lucas Nmecha, who replaces Jesus.
77 min: Zabaleta somehow prevents Jesus from scoring close to the line after Fernandinho beats Adrian to the ball on the right.
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76 min: Not a lot going on out there save for keepball from City.
74 min: More from Ian Sargeant – “Horse has bolted? Correct. Arnie is crying out for support and should have had some at the break. It’s getting tetchy in here. Do the possession stats include the time we take to get the ball back to the centre spot?”
73 min: Jesus almost manages to hook a cute Fernandinho chip towards goal but there’s nobody around to help and Adrian claims.
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71 min: City replace Gundogan with Yaya Toure.
70 min: I’ve no idea what happened down West Ham’s left for that 15-minute period around the last couple of goals, but it was an absolute shambles.
68 min: West Ham have now conceded more goals than anyone else in the division this season.
66 min: Hernandez, Masuaku and Joao Mario replace Lanzini, Evra and Fernandez. The horse has bolted though.
Goal! West Ham 1-4 Man City (Fernandinho 64)
Sterling, for the zillionth time this half, finds acres of green grass and, with several men in support, lays it on a plate for Fernandinho to sweep home. This has been so, so easy for City since half time.
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62 min: Another chance! Sterling is released by Jesus after an awful Adrian kick but hesitates critically and lets the goalkeeper save. City should be well out of sight by now.
61 min: Ogbonna concedes possession and Gundogan shoots wide. Walker now comes off, replaced by Danilo, but it’s West Ham who really need to do something here.
59 min: Undeterred, Sterling gets in behind again, laying back to De Bruyne for a shot that goes wide and rattles the back stanchion – deceiving a few of the away fans, by the sounds of it. City are rampant at the moment.
57 min: Sterling goes down under Cresswell’s challenge and that’s the clearest penalty ever ... but it’s not given, and in fact Neil Swarbrick points the other way! Cresswell’s trailing leg absolutely took Sterling out there.
56 min: Surely time for Carroll, or Hernandez? Or even Hugill?
Goal! West Ham 1-3 Manchester City (Jesus 53)
They might not be in the game anymore. Jesus finds Sterling beautifully and then, while the winger scampers away down the right, makes his way into the box. He takes the return pass, makes a fool of Zabaleta with a lovely first touch, and finishes confidently from close range. City have upped things again and West Ham are, once more, in big trouble.
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51 min: It’s not quite been the rousing start to the second half West Ham might have sought – but the longer they stay in the game ...
48 min: Just for one split second Arnautovic appears to beat Otamendi to a Zabaleta ball and work himself through on goal, but the defender does enough.
46 min: City threaten within 18 seconds, Zabaleta in very sharply to stop Gundogan getting a clear shot on goal from Sterling’s cutback.
Peeeeep! Second half underway!
Can West Ham complete an unlikely fightback?
Sammy Lopez Metta Bexar writes: “Down in San Antonio we wonder why Chicharito left Germany for another Premier League go when once again, he hardly plays. Yay Cresswell, but really, is it just Moyes never knows what to do with his little pea-shooter, er, scoring machine?”
Half-time: West Ham 1-2 Man City
From nowhere, that’s got interesting! City scored twice, probably both own goals, before West Ham got going but a sudden flurry ended with Cresswell scoring a free-kick and, even though the champions ought to have scored a couple more, we have a football match!
45+5 min: A clever scoop to Arnautovic is instead attempted, but I’d have gone with the blast.
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45+4 min: Otamendi takes out Lanzini again ... and could that be a second yellow? West Ham’s players think so, and so does Moyes, and I’ve seen those given to be honest. Instead it’s another free-kick, just about within shooting range if they fancy it ...
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45+2 min: Now Adrian beats away a Sterling drive. So important for West Ham not to concede again at this point.
45+1 min: We’ll see four extra minutes of this half. They should perhaps start with a City goal but Sane, found in space by De Bruyne, is slack with his pass back to Gundogan when he could maybe have finished it himself. De Bruyne eventually regains possession and curls wide.
43 min: City, who just lost their heads for a 90-second spell there, which began when Ederson got away with dithering in possession, try to respond and De Bruyne shoots straight at Adrian. It’s suddenly noisy in there now!
Goal! West Ham 1-2 Manchester City (Cresswell 42)
Did someone mention meek defeat? Maybe not anymore! Cresswell makes light of the free-kick, whipping it over the wall and inside Ederson’s near post. The goalkeeper won’t be happy with that. But: game on!
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41 min: And that has set the tone for a mini-revival, Fernandes delivering from the right and Kouyate just unable to make proper contact. And then West Ham should have a penalty! It’s Gundogan clipping Fernandes, and replays show it’s half a yard inside the box – but a free-kick is awarded a yard outside it!
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39 min: It would have been quite nice if West Ham had broken with modern-day bottom-half tradition here and given it a go today, wouldn’t it? Instead meek defeat is nailed on. Arnautovic tries to change that after mugging Ederson on the ball, but is adjudged to have fouled the goalkeeper before rolling home. He may have been a bit unlucky.
38 min: Otamandi chops Lanzini over in full flight and is deservedly booked. Can West Ham make something of the free-kick, a good 35 yards from goal? Ogbonna nods it back to Arnautovic, who slices over, but the centre-back was offside anyway.
36 min: Fernandes tries to send Arnautovic away but there’s Ederson, stationed outside his own box, to head the ball calmly to the feet of his own defender Laporte.
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35 min: West Ham get away with more terrible defending, Jesus blocking a Rice backpass and seeing it run onto Sane, who never quite gets it under control and can’t beat Adrian as he tries to round him.
33 min: Kouyate is back with us, so presumably no risk of concussion detected. West Ham are incredibly flat, have conceded two pretty odd goals, and need all the help they can get. That second goal, whichever West Ham defender is awarded it, was City’s 100th league strike of the season.
31 min: Kouyate has had to go off the pitch after clashing heads with Laporte – not sure if we see him again or not.
30 min: In fact the final touch went off Zabaleta’s backside – it ricocheted off Rice and onto him. So perhaps the ex-City man gets that. Adrian didn’t help matters at all with that goal, because by racing out to meet Sterling a good 25 yards out he injected a franticness into proceedings that probably wasn’t necessary.
Goal! West Ham 0-2 Man City (Rice own goal 27)
Oh dear, dear, dear. Sterling is sent away and touches the ball past Adrian, well out of goal. There are a lot of defenders back and one of them, I think Ogbonna, blocks his attempt to score. But City get the ball back and eventually De Bruyne, overlapping on the right, centres and the ball dribbles apologetically in off the hapless Rice, who may not have been helped by Zabaleta getting in his way. Comical, all of it.
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24 min: It’s not really high-tempo stuff, and it’s very hard to see West Ham doing much here without a big improvement. Big Andy Carroll on to rattle City later, perhaps? Or Jordan Hugill?
21 min: And now Fernandinho has a go from fully 35 yards, but it would have taken a gargantuan deflection to beat Adrian with that one. London Stadium is extremely quiet.
20 min: Gundogan nicks the ball from Kouyate, takes a sharp return ball from Sane and then sets up Sterling, who snatches at his shot 15 yards out and sees it run wide.
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18 min: West Ham will need a few more moments like that last one, although could probably have done with a Chicharito rather than a Cresswell on the pitch to sniff around the six-yard box there.
16 min: Good riposte there from the Hammers though, Arnautovic and Lanzini linking up intricately on the right before the latter slides in a centre that Ederson dives to push away from Cresswell. Then they win a threatening free-kick on the opposite flank, only for City to clear.
15 min: Ian Sargeant writes – “At the game. Now they’ve changed the rules about kick offs I’m not sure we’ve had a pass in the City half yet.”
Goal! West Ham 0-1 Man City (Sane 13)
Well, that’s the gameplan out of the window and it’s a cruel piece of luck for West Ham. Sane, found by Sterling near the right edge of the area, shifts onto his left foot, lets fly and a drive that Adrian looks set to save takes a huge deflection off Evra’s head. It nestles in the corner, leaving Adrian totally wrong-footed, and what do West Ham do now?
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12 min: Sterling, with a determined run down the right, wins the game’s first corner. It’s glanced on by Otamendi but Kouyate gets it away from any danger.
9 min: A lovely, slaloming run from Sane sets off a classic rat-a-tat City move involving Sterling and Gundogan before Walker, in acres on the right, centres low. Sane is running in and it’s a chance to convert, but he can’t quite get a proper contact and West Ham survive as the ball skids away.
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8 min: De Bruyne goes down clutching his knee after a heavy, late one from Noble. He gets up but isn’t at all happy with his opponent. I can understand that. There’s a World Cup coming up!
7 min: So far, it’s pretty similar pattern-wise to that first game at the Etihad. West Ham took the lead that day, of course. We’re yet to see a chance at either end this time.
4 min: It’s still City on the ball ... until De Bruyne gives it away to Noble. That sets off a little spell in which Zabaleta pushes forward well to win a second ball, but can’t find the run of Lanzini.
2 min: City make the early moves but a Walker chip runs just beyond Sane. The early signs are that West Ham will press fairly high from the front, but how easily will they be bypassed?
Peeeeep! West Ham kick us off, and go left to right!
Here we go.
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@NickAmes82 Doesn't matter if a shuffling is what keeps West Ham up if Pep deems it best for the club (invest in the future sort of a thing). That's how fixture calendars work - tough luck. He has no obligation to prioritize a relegation battle over his club.
— Tanay Padhi (@tanaypadhi) April 29, 2018
I do sympathise with this opinion as well.
The players are out at London Stadium. Bubbles are being blown. West Ham are generously offering City a guard of honour. It’s almost time ...
Matt Loten offers a response: “If I may offer a response, would the dropping of, say, Gundogan and the promotion of Foden really count as shuffling his pack to the extent that it could be seen as compromising the integrity of the fixture or the league? If Pep took the ‘Wenger in the third round of the League Cup’ approach and threw half the youth team in then I would agree, but if he just started Foden and City dropped points then I don’t think the argument would convince many impartial observers.”
James Colern offers a response: “Every season we see some criticism at managers who play a ‘weakened’ team ahead of a cup game, so what? So if Pep gets criticised for putting two or three youth players in his lineup with the title already won, he’s a big boy and can handle it. He can simply point out he is giving his youngsters a chance. Other managers have received negative press this season for not giving younger players more chances, why not Pep?”
David Moyes speaks: “It’s a really tough game but I think our performances at home against the bigger teams – we beat Chelsea and drew with Arsenal – we’ve got to take that into this game and disrupt Man City as well as we can.”
So does Guardiola, on his players and any risk of easing up: “They are professional, they like to play football, we are here to try and finish the season well. We play the game knowing that when a team is near the relegation zone it’s tough and we have to focus.”
The suggestion is that West Ham will not exactly seek out possession today. I’ve also heard Earth is spherical, mind.
Stephen Yoxall has it in for Pep, too: “This is a man who chose to name six substitutes to make a point rather than give the extra spot to a youth player. I’m not surprised to see them not being given a chance now. The likes of Foden will have to move on to get first team opportunities.”
Again – I do agree with large elements of that but Guardiola would also get a hammering if he shuffled the pack, lost and West Ham stayed up on account of it.
Why are West Ham fans in revolt? Here’s a very interesting read from Andrew Anthony in today’s Observer:
And the same point from James Colern, to which I offer a similar counter: “With the title wrapped up shouldn’t Pep, that champion of youth development, be giving a few youngsters from that famous City academy a run out?”
From Matt Loten on City’s selection: “Whilst I understand Pep wants to set a new Premier League points record, I’m disappointed that he hasn’t found room in his starting XI for the likes of Phil Foden or Brahim Diaz now that the title is secure. Given Guardiola’s track record with youth it’s disappointing to say the least, particularly having watched Jadon Sancho deliver a phenomenal performance for Dortmund last weekend. Foden didn’t look out of place at all when he came on for the last 20 against Swansea, so why not give him 90 minutes against another struggling side?”
It’s a fair point – any responses? On the other hand, looking from a broader perspective, it’s an important match in the relegation battle so a strong selection is good for The Integrity Of The Premier League.
And in more Other Football News, Celtic are beating Rangers 5 (FIVE) -0 and there are still almost 20 minutes left. Join Rob Smyth:
At least West Ham aren’t Sunderland! But it’s all change at the Black Cats today – story here:
Teams
West Ham: Adrian, Rice, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Zabaleta, Kouyate, Noble, Evra, Fernandes, Lanzini, Arnautovic. Subs: Carroll, Hugill, Hernandez, Joao Mario, Masuaku, Cullen, Trott.
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Otamendi, Laporte, Delph, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Gundogan, Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Sterling. Subs: Bravo, Danilo, Bernardo Silva, Mendy, Toure, Nmecha, Foden.
Referee: Neil Swarbrick
Doesn’t look like a lot of easing up there from City. Meanwhile, if West Ham need a striker they’ll find three of them on the bench.
Afternoon all
All of a sudden West Ham are in a proper spot of bother again. They could have done without Southampton giving themselves any encouragement yesterday, but that’s exactly what they did and now David Moyes’s bunch, three points clear of the drop zone, could really do with winning their game in hand to keep those relegation demons at bay once and for all.
That’s doable. It’s a home game after all. But it’s a home game against Manchester City, who didn’t appear to be on the beach when beating Swansea last week and might just see their champion status as an excuse to cut even looser and flow even more freely. If there’s some encouragement to be taken by Moyes it’s the excellent, dogged performance West Ham put up at the Etihad early on in his tenure, even if they were eventually beaten, and perhaps something from a similar playbook would work today – because even a point would make their task a fair bit easier at this stage.
Can they achieve it? Or might, in a worst case scenario, they might contrive the kind of drubbing that would cause their goal difference severe harm at the worst possible time? Let’s find out; it’s West Ham so anything is possible and it’s unlikely to be dull ...
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