Aguero spot on as City dodge a hammer blow
A RESULT like this almost counts as a shock in the parlance of thehe modern Premier e - League. Manchester - City do not tend to do squeaky home wins, not often anyway.
Not that this wasn’t deserved. West Ham created one chance all night and City could have scored five or sixx goals. They were comfortably the better team.
But Pep Guardiola’s side e were strangely off colour in front of goal. While Liverpool were rediscovering their real selves at Anfield, City occasionally looked a little lost when entering the West Ham penalty area and that was unusual.
The winning goal arrived from the penalty spot just before the hour and in itself was a strange affair.
Substitute Bernardo Silva fell under a rather lame challenge from Felipe Anderson and Sergio Aguero scored. It was one of those that could have been given and equally might not have been. It was not a huge error from referee Stuart Attwell but then it t was also hard to see exactly y where the contact was.
What muddied the waters s further was something that t happened less than a minute earlier. Controlling the ball with back to goal in the penalty box, Aguero was clattered from behind and fell to ground.
That one did look like a penalty but was not given. Was this playing on Attwell’s mind when he made his second big decision so soon afterwards? Only he will know but it is possible.
Before VAR arrives and robs them of much of their power and personality, referees will remain susceptible to the quirks of the human condition and it could be that City were on the right end of a close call on this occasion.
Guardiola will not worry. Liverpool are not strangers to getting the occasional penalty call and maybe it was City’s turn.
It is hard to think that Guardiola’s predecessor at City, West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini, will have lost too much sleep about the result either, despite describing the key moment as ‘not a penalty’. West Ham were always in this game in terms of the scoreline but were lame up front. As such they went home with credibility and confidence intact, and like many visitors to the Etihad, probably would have taken that at the outset. Their one opening arrived early in the second period when City goalkeeper Ederson saved well from Andy Carroll at the far post. Had that gone in then hearts might have fluttered at the Etihad. As it was, City moved inexorably forwards. They have now won 14 of their last 15 games. It is little wonder they are favourites to retain their title. Having called for hunger and a special performance before the game, Guardiola declared himself satisfied. In fact, he said it had been a very good display. It hadn’t been but he was clearly trying to bolster his players ahead of a hectic part of the season and that is easy to understand.
Had they scored early then things might have been different. City pieced together the first flowing move of the game in only the third minute and David Silva hooked a shot against the post.
After that chances came and went but as each one was missed so the general incisiveness of City’s play fell away a little. It happens to even the best players.
Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan sent good chances skywards in the first third of the game while Riyad Mahrez had a low shot blocked by West Ham defender Angelo Ogbonna. As is often the case, Aguero was City’s most likely scorer but his most notable effort of the opening period struck a defender.
City’s possession at this time stood at an overwhelming 81 per cent. West Ham did not spend much time in the opposition half and did not always look inclined to be there. The selection of Samir Nasri in the No 10 role against his old club seemed ambitious and he was removed at half-time.
Only after they scored did City threaten to cut loose. The introduction of Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling helped and the latter was denied twice by West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and David Silva saw a rebound from the first of those saves cleared from the line.
Still we were treated to the rare sight of De Bruyne holding the ball near the corner flag to run down time at 90 minutes. People have suggested Liverpool are feeling the mental strain of a tight title race. It might just be that the defending champions are too.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Ederson 6.5; Danilo 6, Kompany 6, Otamendi 6, Zinchenko 6; Gundogan 6.5, De Bruyne 6.5; Mahrez 5.5 (Sterling 54min, 6.5), D Silva 6, Sane 6 (B Silva 57, 7); AGUERO 7.5 (Foden 83, 6). Subs not used: Muric, Walker, Mendy, Sandler. Scorer: Aguero 59 (pen). Booked: None. Manager: Pep Guardiola 7. WEST HAM UNITED (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 7; Fredericks 6.5, Diop 7, Ogbonna 6.5, Johnson 6 (Zabaleta 62, 6); Obiang 6, Rice 6; Antonio 6, Nasri 5 (Lanzini 46, 6) , Anderson 6 (Diangana 76); Carroll 6. Subs not used: Adrian, Snodgrass, Noble, Hernandez. Booked: Fredricks, Antonio. Manager: Manuel Pellegrini 6. Referee: Stuart Attwell 6.5. Attendance: 53,528.