Manchester City 2-1 West Ham United: 5 Talking Points as Blues continue winning run | Premier League 2021-22
Manchester City continued their winning ways in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory at home over West Ham United on Sunday. Pep Guardiola's men were coming off a mid-week victory against star-studded PSG in the UEFA Champions League.
Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring against West Ham in the 33rd minute. City looked to extend their lead, but could only do so in the 90th minute, thanks to Fernandinho.
Manchester City looked set to end the game with a clean sheet. But Manuel Lanzini's wonder strike with virtually the last kick of the game meant West Ham reduced the arrears.
Nevertheless, with the win, the holders moved joint-atop the league table before Chelsea moved a point ahead with a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in a late kick-off.
On that note, here are the five talking points from the City-West Ham game:
#5 Lightning strikes twice for Manuel Lanzini
Last year, Manuel Lanzini came off the bench against Tottenham Hotspur, and scored the goal of the season contender with the last kick of the game. That helped West Ham complete a comeback from 3-0 down.
Against Manchester City on Sunday, Lanzini once again came off the bench, this time with West Ham 1-0 down. In the 94th minute, City were attempting to clear their lines with Fernandinho. But Lanzini won back possession and scored a belter from outside the box.
However, this time it was too little too late, as City were already 2-0 ahead. Nevertheless, that takes nothing away from the quality of Lanzini's strike. It was a sumptuous finish.
#4 Failure to convert early chances haunts West Ham against Manchester City
It is no secret that once Pep Guardiola's men get into their stride, it is near impossible for any team to stop them. However, they had hiccups at the start of the game, which gave West Ham a sniff at their goal.
Michail Antonio beautifully turned on the outside of Ruben Dias and dished a low ball in for Said Benrahma. However, he got the connection and positioning wrong. Antonio himself had a header which he could have taken in a 50/50 with Ruben Dias. Aaron Cresswell then put a free-kick won by Antonio into the side netting, looking for a cheeky goal rather than trying to pick a teammate out.
All these chances were in the first half, which they failed to make count. Two of them came before 25 minutes were on the clock. In the second half, City barely gave West Ham a sniff.
It can also be pointed out that David Moyes' decision to bench Jarrod Bowen was a strange one.
#3 Manchester City improvise in-game to strike West Ham hard
Manchester City started with Riyad Mahrez at the false 9 against West Ham United, Raheem Sterling occupied the left wing, and Gabriel Jesus played through the right wing. However, with the front three in this arrangement, City did not create much. Meanwhile, West Ham had two decent chances to open the scoring, which they squandered, though.
At around the half-hour mark, Jesus and Mahrez swapped positions. Jesus went into the striker spot and Mahrez came in from the right wing. With this formation, The Cityzens were able to trouble West Ham a lot more.
Mahrez assisted the first goal from the right side, and had one cleared off the line by Ben Johnson. Jesus also fared better through the middle. and had a 1v1 on goal which was cleared by Aaron Cresswell.
The in-game improvisation and change of tactics and personnel speak volumes of the depth and quality in Manchester City's roster.
#2 Joao Cancelo is the man with the Midas touch for Manchester City
Joao Cancelo has been in wonderful form this season. He is a defender, but he has been an audaciously good playmaker for Manchester City.
Cancelo might not have had a goal contribution against West Ham, but he was in the nick of things. The build-up to City's first goal was initiated by Cancelo, with a switch from the left-back position to Mahrez.
Shortly after that, he followed up with a fizzing shot on Fabianski's goal. That came back out to Mahrez for a tap-in, which was blocked off for a corner.
With a mammoth 114 touches, he was the player with the most touches in the City team against West Ham. He also completed five long balls, two key passes, made two tackles and won five ground duels.
It was a well-rounded game from Cancelo, which has become the norm this season.
#1 Ilkay Gundogan's form a welcome relief for Pep Guardiola amidst fixture congestion
Kevin De Bruyne is currently awaiting a negative test for COVID-19, while both Jack Grealish and Phil Foden trained individually. With a thick run of six games in 17 days coming up for the Cityzens, Guardiola would want his entire squad, especially the experienced players, to step up to the plate.
Enter Ilkay Gundogan. He seems to have picked up where he left off last season. Gundogan was a huge goal threat against West Ham: arriving into the box late, pinging in passes, and winning his on-field duels.
Gundogan found himself in a scoring position on two separate occasions before he eventually tapped-in City's opener. That's the most non-penalty goals (15) in the Premier League by a midfielder since the start of last season.
Gundogan had another chance in the second half, which was blocked away by Fabianski. Nevertheless, he was the Man of the Match on the night.
With City lacking both squad depth and a spearhead in attack, Gundogan's form and late runs into the box are just what the doctor has ordered for Guardiola.
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