18′ GOAL! MICHAIL ANTONIO FOR WEST HAM! 1-0! What an overhead kick from the Hammers forward! Soucek chases down what looks to be a dead ball in the right corner, and plays it back to Coufal who lofts a looping cross in. Antonio manages to hold off Dias in a tussle as it spins towards them and the attacker then lashes an overhead kick past Ederson, nestled in at the left post. A glorious strike!
V. Coufal
Assist
18′ Assist Vladimír Coufal
17′ Cresswell shuts down an Aguero cross looking for Mahrez, and it glances off the latter as it spins out of play. Goal kick for West Ham.
15′ City have two deliveries into the box from the set-piece and neither particularly click for the visitors. Gundogan pulls a face as he peels away. It’s the midfielder’s birthday today, for those interested.
14′ Gundogan floats a long ball now to cut out several Hammers defenders and Garcia brings it onto his chest near the edge of the six-yard box. It’s bundled out for a corner by some quick defence.
12′ City respond with a quick elevation of tempo themselves, and Gundogan pulls a flat-footed finish past the left post following a Mahrez ball out to the edge of the area.
10′ Good work from Rodri now as Bowen unfurls another blast of pace to cut around Cancelo and pull back a ball into the City box. Smarter work from West Ham, steadying their footing now.
8′ A moment of encouragement for Bowen as he picks Garcia’s pocket inside his own half and tears off down the right wing, winning his side a throw-in further into City territory than they have been so far.
6′ The Hammers have been well pegged back – almost lazily – by City in these early exchanges, and a wayward pass out from the back is snaffled by Cancelo, who lofts a shot well over the goalmouth. Work for David Moyes and his side to do.
5′ It’s been a while since Guardiola saw his side not notch a measurable haul in a game at London Stadium and he’ll be backing his side to to it again today. Mahrez cracks a delivery in for Sterling near the far-post and Balbuena nudges it away under pressure.
3′ City play it short and work it around the edge, before Gundogan clips a ball flat across the six-yard area. Fabianski falls onto it comfortably enough and snuffs out the first half-chance of the game.
2′ It’s going to be an early corner for the visitors now, as Sterling feeds Aguero with a lovely throughball into the Hammers box. Coufal gets across to deflect the cut-back out of play near the left post.
1′ We are underway in this 2020-21 Premier League clash between West Ham and Manchester City!
The teams are out at London Stadium and we’re moments away from kick-off.
Pep Guardiola has been saying this week that deposing Liverpool as champions this season may be a tall order with the condensed schedule, but he’ll have to hope that his side don’t drop any more points than they have to. Five have gone begging, with defeat to Leicester and a draw with Leeds this term so far – and any more could curtail their ambitions sharply.
Last season, City won the pair’s Premier League ties by an aggregate scoreline of 7-0, notching five in the first encounter thanks to Raheem Sterling’s hat-trick on the opening weekend. The England man could be poised to hand the hosts more headaches today…
Subs: John Stones, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Zack Steffen, Kevin De Bruyne, Ferran Torres, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Eric Garcia, Joao Cancelo; Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan; Riyad Mahrez, Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling.
Subs: Andriy Yarmolenko, Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble, Sebastien Haller, Issa Diop, Ryan Fredericks, Darren Randolph.
WEST HAM UNITED (5-4-1): Lukasz Fabianski; Vladimir Coufal, Fabian Balbuena, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell, Arthur Masuaku; Jarrod Bowen, Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice, Pablo Fornals; Michail Antonio.
There’s no changes at all for City from the side who downed Porto in midweek, but there is a place for Kevin De Bruyne on the bench following the Belgian’s recent layoff. There’s no spot for new arrival Said Benrahma amid the matchday squad for the hosts – and Manuel Lanzini, who scored that outrageous finish against Spurs to seal the draw, remains on the bench.
Opposite number David Moyes has endured something of a strange start to the new term, now comfortably ensconced in his second term in charge of the Hammers. His side lost their first two top-flight games, then bounced back with two surprise wins while the Scotsman was self-isolating due to the coronavirus. A remarkable last act against Tottenham then saw his side overturn a three-goal deficit to snag a point last time out – and he’ll hope the Irons can pick up a result on home soil again today.
Pep Guardiola’s side ran out comfortable winners in their first Champions League tie of the new campaign in midweek, to make it four games unbeaten across all competitions since their drubbing against Leicester City last month. But the Spaniard will be all too weary of seeing his side’s foot slip off the pedal – and will be determined that they regather their imperious form.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 2020-21 Premier League as Manchester City look to back up their winning start in Europe with three more points against a surprisingly resilient West Ham United at London Stadium.
M. Antonio
Goal