Manchester City 3-0 West Ham: Haaland scores brace and Reijnders gets back on the scoresheet
It was always going to be difficult for West Ham to get any result against Manchester City, but after Erling Haaland opened the scoring after just five minutes and Tijjani Reijnders doubled the lead after the half hour, anxiety would no doubt have risen among Arsenal ranks.
Haaland got his brace and City’s third on minute 69, to effectively put the game to bed and keep the pressure firmly on Arsenal. Mikel Arteta’s side have dropped to second place and will need a victory at Everton to return to their perch.
City fizzed the ball around with verve from the outset and West Ham always looked like they had little chance. Haaland was on the end of Phil Foden’s cut back in the box after the England midfielder had combined with Nico Gonzalez on the left. The Norwegian struck but Alphonse Areola made the save. The ball then dropped to him again and he slammed it in.
Nuno Espirito Santo was left scratching his head as his side played on the painful end of a pass-and-chase game. Haaland failed to extend the lead after a poor header and Reijnders fizzed a shot goalwards but Areola was agile, before the Dutchman then rifled into the roof of the net to make it 2-0.
Cherki, continuing his brilliant run of form, danced into the box and found Haaland, who then found Reijnders, as City worked the angles brilliantly to the Hammers’ dismay.
The only direction for West Ham in the second half had to be up. They improved with Freddie Potts testing Gianluigi Donnarumma, before Mateus Fernandes blazed over.
Guardiola wasn’t pleased. The Spaniard brought on Abdukodir Khusanov, Rico Lewis and Savinho after the hour and not long afterwards the latter two combined to find Haaland, West Ham defenders making a mess of their clearance much to the manager’s frustration. Haaland pounced to put City 3-0.
Nothing was left but the motions. West Ham could have had consolation, however scant, but Crysencio Summerville was denied by Donnarumma, before Foden and Haaland both failed to add a fourth for City.
