Manchester City breezed past West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium to return to the summit of the English Premier League table.
Manchester City Starting lineup (3-2-4-1): Stefan Ortega, Ruben Dias, Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, John Stones, Rodri, Riyad Mahrez, Julian Alvarez, Bernado Silva, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland.
West Ham United Starting lineup (5-4-1): Lukasz Fabianski, Vladimir Coufal, Thilo Kehrer, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell, Emerson, Jarrod Bowen, Flynn Downes, Lucas Paqueta, Pablo Fornals and Michail Antonio.
West Ham United got the game underway with Pablo Fornals playing the kick-off. Manchester City completely dominated the first 45 minutes.
City enjoyed the lion share of the possession in the first half with the Citizens going into the interval with 80 percent of the ball possession over West Ham United’s 20%.
However, they couldn’t convert it to any goal in the first half of proceedings. Just two minutes into action, Julian Alvarez fired the first shot of the encounter but Fabianski was able to stop it with ease.
West Ham United had a conservative approach to the first half as they sat on a low block opting to be more decisive than adventurous in the first 45.
6 minutes to half of the hour mark, Manchester City got a massive opportunity but Erling Haaland couldn’t apply the needed finish.
Alvarez located Grealish who was unmarked on the left flank, Jack Grealish curled a cross into the area with the outside of his boot, the ball went past the head of Mahrez before reaching Haaland.
Erling Braut Haaland afterwards connected to it but the angle was too tight and the current Premier League top scorer couldn’t convert.
In the 30th minute of action, Lucas Fabianski came up clutch for his side as he made a big save to deny Pep Guardiola’s side the opener.
Grealish drove into the area and went past Coufal before smashing a low shot towards the bottom corner, Fabianski reacted quickly to make the save.
After a keenly contested first half involving two teams with two contrasting styles both clubs had to go into the break level.
The second half commenced with Manchester City intent on changing the scoreline of the encounter and definitely with a sight of returning to the summit of the Premier League table.
Flynn Downes picked up a yellow card just 4 minutes after the restart of action for a foul on Grealish and he became the first man to get his name into the referee’s book.
The foul was in an enticing position for City and it resulted in their first goal of the encounter scored by Nathan Ake in the 50th minute.
Riyadh Mahrez sent a cross into the area via a free-kick and it connected to the head of Ake who nodded the ball beyond the reach of Lucas Fabianski.
West Ham United made an enforced substitution 11 minutes later after Vladimir Coufal went down and felt the back of his right leg, he wasn’t able to continue.
Ben Johnson came on to replace the Injured Vladimir Coufal in the 62nd minute and 5 minutes later, David Moyes opted to introduce Danny Ings for Michail Antonio upfront.
Manchester City doubled their advantage 8 minutes later after the inevitable goalscorer of City Erling Haaland took his side ahead.
The Norwegian became the first player in Premier League history to net 35 goals in a single campaign usurping Andy Cole and Alan Shearer who scored 34 in a single season.
Following an attack from West Ham United, City broke on the counter with Jack Grealish threading a through-ball to find Erling Braut Haaland.
The 22-year-old went one-on-one with Fabianski and he chipped his attempt over the West Ham goalie and in the post.
In the 77th minute, Pep Guardiola introduced Manuel Akanji as he came on to replace the first goalscorer on the night, Nathan Ake.
Phil Foden was also brought on to replace Julian Alvarez who wasn’t really influential during the minutes he played.
The Hammers substituted Jarrod Bowen for Said Benrahma in the 79th minute as the game drew closer to its expiration.
The Citizens rubber-stamped their victory on the night after Phil Foden scored a third for Manchester City.
A corner from the left hand side intended to be cleared out of the box by Lucas Paqueta found the Englishman who smashed a volley towards goal.
The attempt of Phil Foden was low and it deflected off Emerson before it got into the net of West Ham United.
Three minutes was added as additional time of the encounter after the expiration of the 90 minutes and Guardiola subbed off Rodri for Kalvin Philips.
It ended with Manchester City rolling over West Ham United, though a hard fought victory but a well earned win.
City return to the top of the English Premier League table via that win with 79 points from 33 games, one point ahead of Arsenal who have accrued 78 points from 34 games.
The Citizens have now scored 1000 goals under the tutelage of Spaniard, Pep Guardiola.
