West Ham fell short to a dominant Manchester City side, after narrowly losing 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
West Ham were persistent in trying to match City’s quality but in the end two goals from centre backs Ruben Dias (30) and John Stones (68), were enough to cancel out a Michail Antonio equaliser (43) and concede the Hammers to defeat in Manchester.
Bright Start
In the early exchanges, City comfortably dominated possession. West Ham attempted to make a few ventures out, but the home side were quick to snuff them out.
Despite their early dominance, it was West Ham who produced the first chance of the game.
Jesse Lingard picked up the ball from Pablo Fornals, to then release a curled effort aiming for the top corner. His shot was blocked and eventually fell to Tomas Soucek at the back post.
Soucek nodded it back for Antonio who was unable to get a decent enough contact on the ball, as City goalkeeper, Ederson just managed to do enough to put him off.
City tried to fashion chances of their own, particularly targeting the flank of the inexperienced Ben Johnson.
City Breakthrough
In the 30th minute, their persistence eventually paid off. Kevin De Bruyne floated a teasing diagonal ball into the West Ham box. With both centre-backs caught underneath the ball, Dias rose the highest to head past a helpless Darren Randolph from close range.
It was perhaps a little harsh on the deputising Randolph, who was largely untroubled prior to the goal. Nonetheless, The Hammers found themselves 1-0 down.
Minutes after the goal, Lingard found space on West Ham’s right channel. He played a cross which fell behind City’s defence to Antonio. He got a shot off, but it was scuffed and brushed the edge of the post.
West Ham Response
Soon after, Antonio got another chance which he made better use of.
Fornals picked up the ball in acres of space. He found Vladimir Coufal on the right flank who fizzed a low cross into Lingard who dragged his shot towards the far post.
Fortunately for West Ham, Antonio was there to poke it home and equalise the scoring at 1-1, just before half-time.
Second Half
In the opening minutes of the second half, West Ham were met with unfortunate circumstances.
Goalkeeper Randolph appeared to have injured himself whilst taking a goal-kick. The Republic of Ireland international continued but the injury meant he had to enlist the help of Craig Dawson for subsequent goal kicks.
Sustained Pressure
As the game began to heat up on the hour mark, De Bruyne went darting through up field, on the attack.
After skipping past a rash challenge from Issa Diop, the Belgian took on and beat Soucek to then play another tantalising cross – this time it was across the box.
Fortunately for West Ham, they were let off as there were no City players in the box to meet the cross.
In the 68th minute, Manchester City maintained their intensity but to better effect. West Ham struggled to clear from a corner and were soon brutally punished.
De Bruyne kept the ball alive and found Riyad Mahrez on the right-hand side. He took on Johnson and pulled it back to Stones in the centre of the box, to fire past Randolph with a powerful first-time finish. 2-1 to the hosts.
Fightback
In an attempt to level the scoring for a second time, West Ham substituted Antonio and Johnson for Said Benrahma and Jarrod Bowen. Looking to chase the game, the Hammers threw men forward at every opportunity.
Lingard and Benrahma combined well but West Ham were unable to find any sort of breakthrough to trouble Manchester City.
Realising the need to nullify West Ham’s approaches, City brought on Rodri to slow things down and control the remainder of proceedings.
Late on, Lingard looked to force the issue with time against his side. He curled a cross deep into the City box which found Diop at the back post. The Frenchman poorly headed wide with much of the goal to aim at.
Shortly after, the contest drew to a close with West Ham narrowly succumbing to defeat.
After the game, David Moyes was in full appreciation for his side’s effort in the game, speaking to BT Sport.
“We worked really hard and we’re just a bit unfortunate not to come away with something.
“I’m really proud of the players [for] the way they played today, we’ve come to the best team in the Premier League at the moment, and I think we’ve put on a really good show,” he said.
The defeat sees West Ham remain on 45 points with their next game coming up against Leeds United, at the London Stadium.
