Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City managed to extend their unbeaten run to 4 games in the Premier League with a comfortable victory over West Ham at the Olympic Stadium this week. Slaven Bilic’s side were no match to the Citizens as they failed to breach Willy Caballero on the night, slipping into the bottom half of the table with this loss. Kevin de Bruyne opened the scoring for the visitors while David Silva doubled the lead just a few minutes later.
Gabriel Jesus, who got a start in this game, picked up the assist for De Bruyne’s goal and scored the third, all before half-time as Guardiola’s side pocketed all three points in less than 40 minutes. Raheem Sterling was brought down by Jose Fonte who had a terrible evening and Yaya Toure converted from the spot to seal a thumping victory for the Citizens. They are now level on points with Liverpool in the 4th place and will hope to climb the table slowly. Here are the player ratings for Manchester City:
Willy Caballero (6):
Replaced Bravo for some strange reason and had a comfortable night as he hardly had a quality shot to save, helping himself to a clean-sheet.
Bacary Sagna (6):
Stuck to his task well on the flank as he kept the likes of Cresswell and Lanzini away from danger for most of the game. Also added a number to the attack when needed.
John Stones (7):
A commanding performance from the centre-half who gave Carroll no joy in the box while also dealing well with the pace of Antonio on more than one occasion.
Nicolas Otamendi (6):
Made a number of timely interceptions coming off his line to win back the ball for his team as he had a fairly comfortable night near his goal.
Aleksandar Kolarov (6):
Made a nervous start to the game but slowly grew comfortable and started to dominate the flank in an easy victory for his side.
Yaya Toure (8):
Looks a completely different player in the last few games as he was evidently chasing a ball back in the 80th minute, just after scoring a penalty that put City 4-0. The Pep effect?
Raheem Sterling (8):
Unfazed by the physical approach from the Hammers on the night, Sterling put in a scintillating performance, setting up Jesus for his first goal and also winning the late penalty.
Kevin de Bruyne (8):
Exceptional with his passing all night, De Bruyne was all over the West Ham midfield, picking dangerous through balls after opening the scoring in the 17th minute of the game.
David Silva (8):
At his best on the night as he went past players with ease and also created plenty of chances for his side after getting himself a goal from Sane’s cross in the first half.
Leroy Sane (9):
The man of the match for Manchester City, Sane was just unplayable on the night as he ran past players with ease and created chance after chance. His first half performance was what gave Manchester City this comfortable victory.
Gabriel Jesus (8):
The young Brazilian got his first goal in the Premier League this week and put a big smile on Pep Guardiola after also picking up an assist on an impressive night.
SUBS:
Fernandinho (6):
Replaced De Bruyne to keep West Ham away and did really well, helping City on the attack as well.
Sergio Aguero (5):
Came in too late in the game to have any real effect on the scoreline.
Fabian Delph (5):
A late substitute to run down the clock.