Gundogan affirms his goalscoring importance as Manchester City down stubborn West Ham United

There is no doubt that this season’s Premier League title race will go down to the wire, unlike the previous two campaigns where Liverpool and Manchester City were runaway winners.

With the Reds winning their game earlier on Saturday and Chelsea also failing to beat Manchester United, Manchester City had to ensure they responded in kind.

The Cityzens faced a difficult test against a rejuvenated West Ham United side but managed to get the job done after recording an important 2-1 in a snow-drenched Etihad Stadium.

Ilkay Gundogan was the star after scoring the opener and setting up another for Fernandinho to ensure that Manuel Lanzini’s last-minute golazo only counted as a consolation for the Hammers.

Gundogan affirms his goalscoring importance

One of Pep Guardiola’s biggest mistakes in his managerial career was the decision to play Gundogan as a defensive midfielder during last season’s UEFA Champions League final against Chelsea.

With the decision backfiring spectacularly, the Spaniard has since reverted to playing the German midfielder in a more advanced role this term.

While Gundogan’s numbers haven’t been as good as they were last season, he reminded everyone of his sharpness up front with his performance against West Ham.

The 31-year-old was a lively presence throughout the game and it was no surprise that he was involved in both of Manchester City’s goals. He did it so many times last season and this was an affirmation of his goalscoring importance to the team.

Gundogan was City's top-scorer last season across all competitions with 17 goals.

City get huge title boost

The win over West Ham comes as a huge boost to Manchester City’s title ambitions. The Cityzens remain second in the Premier League but now trail Chelsea by just a point.

The English top flight is now a three-horse race between Guardiola’s side, Liverpool and Chelsea but the Cityzens are currently in a good position after their latest win.

"We came from a tough game in midweek against PSG and we know exactly which team we face today," Guardiola said after Sunday’s match, as quoted by Mancity.com.

"The amount of chances we created in the first half, in the conditions that we played, [it's] a huge victory for us, for the effort for the players, for the performance in general.

"We didn’t concede much, we controlled the counter attack. Maybe we could have found another rhythm but the weather didn't allow us to do it. A good performance from all of us."

It has been a great week for the Cityzens. They first defeated PSG in the Champions League and have now also closed the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea.

It doesn’t come any better than that. City's next game will be against Aston Villa on Wednesday, December 1.