Manchester City complete theirPremier League season thanks toErling Haaland's debut goal against West HamFinished with a good start.
Haaland was the only player in his three summer deals for City, starting at the London Stadium, and scoring a goal from his spot to give his new team a penalty. Brought all 3 points. Pep Guardiola's men dominated the match, with the Hammers holding just his 25% of possessions.
With 25 minutes remaining, Haaland caught on his Kevin de Bruyne through ball and edged Alphonse Areola for the win. The win saw City surpass his rivals Liverpoolfor the expected title.
Here,Mirror Football covers his five stories from City's opening day victory over a team led by David Moyes.
Let us know what you think. Who was Man of the Match when Manchester City defeated West Ham? Comments below
City capitalized on Liverpool's failure
City , who have won their last two titles in a row, were one of the pre-season favorites as they challenged for thePremier League title. They got an early boost in this year's race as Liverpool finished in a draw at newly promoted Fulham
. afternoon. City dominated possession at the London Stadium but struggled to break through a resilient host before Haaland won and scored a penalty.
City continued to hold off West Ham after the goal, but the Hamers failed to find a shot in the first half. In fact, Ederson's goal was hardly threatened as City scored his first three points of the new season.
Perfect start for Haaland
Erling Haaland scored forManchester City against Borussia Dortmund this summer. A league debut that showed exactly why we got him in the Premier League. For the first 30 minutes he was eerily quiet, but his biggest contribution came in a flying attempt to reach the cross, which ended up injuring West Ham keeper Lukas Fabianski.
However, he burst into action with 10 minutes remaining in the first period, catching a through ball and plowing through a rushing Alphonse Areola, tripping and conceding a penalty. Haaland sent his kick properly for the resulting spot, putting his team ahead.
He followed that penalty and scored his second goal after the break. This time around, it shows how dangerous his tie-up with Bruyne can be to the Premier League's defense. The Belgian sent a perfect pass-through to Haaland, who smashed his trap for offside and fell short of Areola in the end to get the perfect start to his City career.
Grealish struggle continues
Following his title win last season, Jack Grealish admitted he needed to improve his performance. But the winger again struggled to show why City spent £100m to acquire him from Aston Villa last summer.
In the first period, he dribbled at Couldn't complete or find his three crosses of his teammate. Valdimir Coufal kept him appropriately quiet and Grealish failed to make an impact on the game.
Sky Sports his commentator Gary Neville tipped England international Guardiola to make a fuss at half-time for his sloppiness. However, when it did, it had little effect and Grealish struggled again after the break.
City prove their defensive credentials
West Ham spent most of the first 45 minutes in their own half, with City completely dominated. However, the hosts would sometimes move forward after half-time and put some serious pressure on City.
Nathan Ake was named as Ruben Diaz's centre-back in place of John Stones, while Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo were regular City full-backs. The visitors kept a clean sheet despite the introduction of new signing Gianluca Schamacca by the Hammers.
This bodes well for champions who only lost Oleksandr his Zinchenko from the legion of defensive options. The Hammers kept Ederson from getting seriously ill, as his trap for City's offside worked well against Skamakka.
Guardiola is far from happy
At some point in the game, Pep Guardiola retreated to his seat in the dugout with a look of anger on his face. His team led most of the opening rounds of the season, but was far from a perfect performance from the reigning champions.
They dominated possession but struggled to keep the visitors open and Guardiola seemed unhappy with their sloppy play, especially in the first half. We're happy to have collected all three points, but we have some work to do before our visit to Bournemouth next week.
Read More
Read More
