De Bruyne lifts City spirits
Fans make their feelings known in comfortable win against Hammers
MANCHESTER CITY cruised to a 2-0 win over West Ham yesterday as Pep Guardiola’s side returned to action for the first time following the club’s shock two-year ban from European competitions.
Goals from Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne lifted City’s spirits as they cemented their hold on second place in the Premier
League.
T h e Champions
League and
Europa League suspension for alleged financial fair-play regulations drew a furious response over the weekend from City supporters who have long believed
UEFA hold an agenda against their Abu Dhabi-owned club.
Yet the attendance at the Etihad Stadium for the visit of David Moyes’ struggling side was disappointing, with approximately 10,000 empty seats greeting the two sets of players before kickoff. That may have been due, in part, to the fact the fixture was rescheduled from its original date 10 days earlier due to storms.
It was a curiously subdued atmosphere, therefore, rather than the expected frenzied demonstration of anti-UEFA rhetoric.
There were a couple of home-made banners proclaiming “UEFA Cartel” and “UEFA Mafia”, as well as chants of adulation praising City owner Sheikh Mansour and boss Guardiola.
There were also taunts to UEFA that “we’ll see you in court” and crude songs aimed at the governing body.
But not until Rodri headed City into a 29th minute lead did City fans become truly animated as their team maintained their complete dominance against the visitors.
The second-half goal from De Bruyne ensured that City returned from the winter break, and five days of controversy, with the minimum of fuss.
“We are professionals on the pitch, what happens off it we cannot do much,” Guardiola said after the match “We talked about what we have to do until the end of the season, especially for the people who love this club.
“We will play our game the best as possible. We have a lot of interesting things to play for.”
Guardiola was equally defiant, vowing to stay at the club and backing their decision to fight the ban.
“It’s not finished. The club believes it’s unfair so we are going to appeal. We are going to fight like we have fought every single game,” Guardiola told Sky Sports after the match.
“We are optimistic that at the end the truth will prevail and next season we will be in the Champions League.
“No matter what happens I will be here next season.”
There were few moments when the visitors posed any sort of threat, and their lack of attacking intent was summed up by their meagre total of three efforts at goal, none of which were on target.
“Probably not as close as we’d like but I felt the players did a great job in trying to be organised and disciplined,” West Ham boss David Moyes told BBC’s Match of the Day.– AFP