CITY FIGHT BACK TO WIN HAMMERS THRILLER:
Goals from Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva, and Erling Haaland secured a 3-1 victory over West Ham as City fought back from a half-time deficit to maintain our 100% record in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola’s side had an incredible 29 shots but a combination of missed opportunities, brilliant goalkeeping, and brave defending kept the game in the balance until the dying minutes.
The Hammers went into the game unbeaten and, despite sitting back for large parts of the game, they offered plenty of threat and went in at half-time ahead thanks to James Ward-Prowse’s diving header after a quick break.
But Doku’s solo effort pulled City level inside 60 seconds of the restart and Bernardo Silva finally put us ahead with a quarter of an hour remaining.
Haaland went close on several occasions and finally got his goal in the final minutes to clinch our fifth win in five Premier League games.
WHAT HAPPENED
City pushed the Hammers back from the opening stages with Doku looking lively down the left-hand side and Haaland and Foden linking up neatly from the off.
The home side somehow survived going behind in just the sixth minute with City firing in four attempts in quick succession.
From Foden’s corner, Rodrigo’s header was superbly saved by Alphonse Areola, his rebound effort was blocked and a third attempt was stopped on the line by Tomas Soucek before Ruben Dias’ follow-up header was tipped cleared again by the West Ham keeper.
New boys Doku and Josko Gvardiol then combined to set up a chance for Haaland at the back post but he couldn’t squeeze the ball on target.
West Ham looked to threaten from dead-ball situations with the expert delivery of summer signing Ward-Prowse. But from a 15th-minute corner, Jarrod Bowen’s centre was flicked on by Soucek for Nayef Aguerd who could only head his close-range effort wide.
But it was Ward-Prowse himself who was on the end of a cross when he gave the Hammers a lead by escaping the marking to head home after Soucek pounced on a loose touch from Doku to start a lightning counter-attack that saw him send over a perfect centre.
It was a sucker-punch for Pep Guardiola’s side who had dominated possession on the edge of West Ham’s box for the majority of the first half and patiently tried to carve out an opportunity.
Foden had gone close with a turn and shot that was deflected wide while Areola made saves from a Dias header and Rodrigo shot.
Going behind didn’t alter the dynamic of the game and Doku created another huge chance with clever wing play to fire over a low cross to pick out Haaland at the back post but his effort was scrambled off the line by Aguerd.
First-half frustrations were forgotten within 60 seconds after the restart when Doku equalised with his first goal for City. An excellent run saw the Hammers’ defenders backing off from a challenge and he curled a delightful strike inside the far post.
Foden went close with a flicked header and Alvarez smacked the inside of the post with a 25-yard free-kick and a spectacular Haaland volley was denied by Areola as City chased a second.
But West Ham, full of confidence on the back of three successive wins, had their threat and Ederson made two wonderful saves to keep them out, smothering a break from Antonio and diving full-length to turn away Kurt Zouma’s header.
Matheus Nunes came on midway through the second half to make his debut and he had a hand in setting up the winner with a dash into the box.
The ball dropped to Alvarez on the edge of the area who delicately scooped the ball over the Hammers’ defence for Bernardo to loop in a finish with Haaland deciding against touching it in, in case he was offside.
Haaland was denied again by Areolo after a wonderful run and cross from captain Kyle Walker but he finally got his goal, viciously thumping in City’s third after good work from Bernardo.
MAN OF THE MATCH
In just his second game since his summer switch from Stade Rennais, Doku showed why so many experts have identified him as an exciting talent.
The Belgian winger was a threat from the opening minutes as he took the game to the hosts, constantly asking questions of the defenders with his pace and quick feet.
A couple of magic moments carved out first-half opportunities, although a miscontrol in front of Guardiola was punished by West Ham as they broke for the opening goal.
But it was unfortunate after an impressive opening 45 minutes that was set to get even better after the restart.
As Hammers’ defenders backed away, he stroked home a delightful leveller and celebrated with a ‘Griddy’ in front of the joyous away fans.
Doku continued to terrorise the Hammers’ defence and drew several ‘tactical’ fouls in an attempt to stop him.
NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP
City’s victory was borne out of a will to win that has underpinned our success in recent years.
Under David Moyes, the Hammers have become masters at soaking up pressure and catching out teams on the break, helping them to Europa Conference League success last season and an unbeaten run in four games this term.
It was the gameplan again and sides could easily become frustrated, particularly when the remarkable pinball of shots somehow stayed out in the opening five minutes.
But we kept our patience and relentlessly kept creating chance after chance to get us over the line and our summer signings were an integral part of the success, with a quick lesson in what is required in the punishing Premier League.
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