City knock out Hammers

For the first match of 2025, City took to the pitch looking to capitalize on last week’s 2-0 victory at Leicester.

However, it was the Hammers who created the first chance of the match. A quick counter-attack takes the City defense behind and allows Mohammed Kudus to advance into the area. Fortunately, the Ghanaian only found the outer net of the cage guarded by Ortega Moreno. (6^th)

This inconsequential warning will make City react. Served on his left side, Savinho sends a powerful cross which Coufal unintentionally deflects into his own goal. Areola is beaten and City leads without even having had a shot on goal! (1-0, 10^th)

The match is rhythmic on both sides of the field but without any real opportunity. We had to wait until the last quarter of an hour of the first period to see City have a clear opportunity.

Served behind by Haaland in the area, Bernardo Silva throws himself and tackles the ball, which the French goalkeeper pushes away with his foot. The goal of the break was close… (31^th)

Then it was Rico Lewis’ powerful shot from outside the area that made Areola shine. The ball heads towards the top corner and it takes a nice horizontal save from the Hammers goalkeeper to preserve his goal. (37^th)

It’s only a postponement for the Cityzens, determined to take shelter before the break.

Found on the left wing, Savinho plays Coufal in a remarkable way and sends a precise cross to Haaland, alone at the far post. Areola is too short and the Norwegian concludes with a header into the empty goal. (2-0, 42^th)

The Skyblues have the margin but, returning from the locker room, a cross from Coufal forces Ortega Moreno to stay on his guard… (50^th)

So City will accelerate under the leadership of Savinho, breathtaking this afternoon at the Etihad. The Brazilian breaks through the axis of the West Ham defense and finds Haaland with a subtle pass behind the defense. Haaland takes the time to dribble past Areola and, with a dive ball, scores a double. (3-0, 55^th)

The Hammers are stunned and in the process, a loss of ball in midfield benefits Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian, who today celebrates his 400th^th match with City, advances into the area and shifts Foden to his right who finishes with a flat foot. (4-0, 57^th)

The score seems certain and Pep Guardiola’s men loosen their grip on the match a little, which allows West Ham to get a few opportunities. First with an off-target free kick from Paquetá. (64^th) Then Ortega comes out to meet Soucek in the area. (67^th)

The Londoners are rewarded for their perseverance thanks to Füllkrug, well served by Soucek. The German leaves his compatriot Ortega no chance. (4-1, 71^th)

But unlike previous matches, the Cityzens did not panic and did not waste all their efforts made during the first sixty minutes of play.

Grealish (90+2^th) and De Bruyne (90+6^th) even have the possibility of increasing the score but this will not happen.

Following the victory, Pep Guardiola’s side now have 34 points from 20 matches and find themselves one point behind fifth-placed Newcastle United, who beat Tottenham earlier in the day.

City will return to the Etihad on Saturday January 11 at 6:45 p.m. (French time) to host Salford City in the third round of the FA Cup.

THE TEAMS

CITY : Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Akanji, Ake (Walker 61), Gvardiol, Kovacic (Gundogan 61), De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Savinho (McAtee 81), Foden, Haaland (Grealish 83)

Unused substitutes: Carson, Doku, Nunes, Simpson-Pusey, O’Reilly

WEST HAM : Areola, Coufal, Todibo (Mavropanos 53), Kilman, Wan-Bissaka, Alvarez, Soucek (C), Paqueta, Kudus, Fullkrug, Summerville

Unused substitutes: Foderingham, Cresswell, Soler, Guilherme, Ings, Rodriguez, Irving, Scarles