Silva inspires another Pep’s champions hit
West Ham uNited 0 maNCHester City 4
Silva (11), Sterling (19), Sane (34, 90) Manchester City and Pep Guardiola simply love playing at the London Stadium.
West Ham’s new home has received plenty of criticism since it was converted for football, but you won’t find a bad word about it from Pep or his all-conquering players.
It’s four victories from four visits with 17 goals scored and only one conceded. With the home crowd well away from the pitch and wide open spaces to exploit, City are untouchable at this venue.
This game was as good as over after 34 minutes, by which time they were already three up. The rest of the game was a stroll and one more goal in injury time completed an easy afternoon’s work as City eased back into action following the international break.
While negative headlines continue to dog City’s Abu Dhabi owners away from the pitch, on it, things could not be going much better. They stay two points clear of Liverpool at the top of the league and in their 13 games, they have already notched 40 goals.
So if anyone was hoping for a drop in standards after last season’s 100 points, there is not much evidence of that up yet, and their manager won’t allow it.
“We demand and we ask each other for many, many things,” said the City boss. “It is the only way.
“We know who the contenders are. Liverpool have had their best start ever and this is a club with a huge history and with many Champions Leagues. After getting 100 points there were a lot of nice
Fabianski 6; Zabaleta 5, Balbuena 4, Diop 5, Masuaku 4 (Cresswell 46, 5); Diangana 5 (Hernandez 55, 4), Rice 7, Obiang 5, Anderson 5 (Perez 68, 3); Arnautovic 5, Antonio 5. Unused subs – Adrian (Gk), Carroll, Noble, Ogbonna.
Ederson 6; Walker 6, Otamendi 7, Laporte 7, Delph 6; Fernandinho 6, Gundogan 6 (Foden 69, 4), D Silva 8; Sterling 7 (Mahrez 74, 4), Sane 7, Aguero 6 (Jesus 81, 4). Unused subs – Muric (Gk), Kompany, Stones, Zinchenko.
West Ham utd:
maNCHester City:
words and when that happens you don’t do what you need to do.
“What made me happy today was seeing Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane and then Riyad Mahrez running back to help our full-backs even after 60 and 70 minutes when we were winning 3-0.
“That is a signal that shows me we will try to do the same again, even though we know the contenders are tough.
“We want to do what nobody has done in the last 10 years – to retain the title. The demands are so high but we accept
the challenge.” It was a chastening 90 minutes for former City manager Manuel Pellegrini in his first meeting with his old club since leaving them in May 2016.
It was often felt that the Chilean was keeping the seat warm during his three years in charge until Guardiola became available, but he still delivered three trophies to the Etihad Stadium.
Four players who came to City during his reign were named in Guardiola’s side here, but there is no argument that the team have moved on apace since Pep