Manchester City 4 West Ham 1: City player ratings as Savinho dazzles at the Etihad | OneFootball

Manchester City 4 (Vladimir Coufal OG 10′, Erling Haaland 42′, 54′, Phil Foden 58′)

West Ham United 1 (Niclas Füllkrug 71′)

Here are the City player ratings as Manchester City made it back-to-back wins with a 4-1 win over West Ham. Pep Guardiola named an unchanged starting eleven from last weekend’s win over Leicester City. The City manager was looking for continuity with his starting eleven to build on last weekend’s victory. His team picked up another victory but the scoreline didn’t reflect the nature of the game as West Ham gave all they could in an entertaining match. This game made it hard to judge for the City player ratings based on how the game unfolded.

First half

The game kicked off at the Etihad, with Manchester City being backed by their vocal home support.

The first real chance of the game fell West Ham’s way in the 6th minute after some nice possession play by the visitors. Mohammed Kudus had the game’s first chance. But from a good position, he fired into the side netting, but it was a warning shot fired City’s way.

Two minutes later, Mohammed Kudus was again played in, and this time, he set up Tomas Soucek for a shot on goal from just inside the area. But he fired wide from a promising position.

But against the early run of play, Manchester City would take the lead in the 9th minute. A deflected Savinho cross flew past Alphonse Areola in the West Ham goal to give City an early lead. The goal would go down as an own goal courtesy of Vladimir Coufal. But the game did have an open feel to it.

From there the game settled into a pattern. Manchester City looked sloppy in possession and West Ham continued to look the brighter of the two teams. Their next chance came in the 29th minute when Lucas Paqueta fired just wide from just outside City’s area.

That West Ham effort stirred a response from Manchester City. A well-worked move between Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva saw a Bernardo Silva shot from the edge of the area well saved by Alphonse Areola. Manchester City almost created another opportunity from the resulting passage of play, but some desperate West Ham defending prevented City from doubling their lead.

In the 38th minute, a stinging drive from Rico Lewis from the edge of the area was well saved again by Areola. But City had upped the ante after West Ham’s spell of possession.

Manchester City doubled their lead in the 42nd minute. Some sublime play from Savinho saw him play a sumptuous ball into the box. Erling Haaland was on hand to head home to make it 2-nil. It was a superb team goal and Erling Haaland’s reaction to Savinho’s brilliance perfectly summed up the quality on show.

At halftime, Manchester City went in with a 2-nil lead after an entertaining half of football.

Second half

The second half began similarly to the first. Both teams continued to push forward although there was no chances of note in the opening 10 minutes of the second half.

In the 54th minute, Manchester City would make it 3-nil. A driving run and a precise ball from Savinho played in Erling Haaland. Haaland beautifully chipped Alphonse Areola to score his second of the afternoon. It was once again superb play by Savinho to set up Haaland’s goal.

Phil Foden would make it 4-nil four minutes later. West Ham made a mess of playing out from the back which allowed Kevin De Bruyne to pounce. De Bruyne set up Foden who easily finished past Areola to make it four.

West Ham saw a chance from Tomas Soucek well saved in the 66th minute by Stefan Ortega. But the fizz of the game had gone out of the match after Phil Foden’s goal.

Julen Lopetegui’s side would make it 4-1 in the 71st minute. A well-worked West Ham move saw Tomas Soucek play a teasing ball across the box. Niclas Füllkrug beat Stefan Ortega with a neat finish to make it 4-1. In truth, West Ham deserved their goal for how they had played up until that point.

In the game’s final 20 minutes, West Ham had several chances to make it 4-2. A clever strike from Lucas Paqueta that went inches wide in the 86th minute was the pick of those chances.

The final stages of the game passed by without incident. Pep Guardiola’s side will be happy to pick another victory and they are slowly turning the corner after their poor run. But there is still plenty of work to do for Manchester City as today’s performance showed.

The City player ratings reflect the nature of the game. Manchester City will be happy to pick up all three points but West Ham at times did expose City’s defence.

City player ratings

Stefan Ortega-6/10: Rarely called into action but did what he had to do. He’s getting better with his feet which stood out.

Rico Lewis-7/10: I thought Lewis played well. Did his job well and he never gives less than 100%.

Manuel Akanji-5.5/10: A sloppy performance from Akanji. Wasn’t at his best today and fortunately that didn’t cost his team.

Nathan Ake-7/10: Another good display from Ake. He’s working his way back to full fitness and another 60 minutes in his legs is a positive.

Josko Gvardiol-6.5/10: Mohammed Kudus have him a torrid time early but Gvardiol grew into the game. It wasn’t his best display but it was better than his recent performances.

Mateo Kovacic-6/10: Not at his best but he did make several driving runs from midfield. Substituted on the hour mark after picking up an early yellow card.

Kevin De Bruyne-7/10: Picked up an assist in his 400th Manchester City appearance. He did look to be moving better today which is a positive.

Bernardo Silva-7/10: Another busy performance from Bernardo. He did the grunt work which he does so well and some of his touches were sublime.

Savinho-10/10: A brilliant performance from the Brazilian. Had a hand in three of Manchester City’s goals and tormented the West Ham defence until he was substituted. His best performance for Manchester City.

Phil Foden-7.5/10: A much better performance from Foden. He grabbed a goal and played with more energy today.

Erling Haaland-8.5/10: Bagged a brace and played well again. He looks to be back to his best and has now scored 3 goals in his past two matches.

Substitutes

Ilkay Gundogan-5/10: Came on with the game already won. But didn’t offer a lot and his lack of legs in midfield stood out.

Kyle Walker-5/10: Same as Gundogan he came on with the game already won and didn’t really stand out after coming on.

James McAtee-N/A: Not on long enough to mark.

Jack Grealish-N/A: Not on long enough to mark.