Savinho played a part in three goals, two of them scored by Erling Haaland as Manchester City toppled West Ham United 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Phil Foden also scored for City, who first met the scoreboard on a Vladimir Coufal own goal, as City make it back-to-back wins and sit sixth with 34 points. The champs are two points off fourth and three away from third.
MORE - Pep Guardiola, Kevin De Bruyne react to win
West Ham was strong in the first half but only found a goal in the second when Niclas Fullkrug converted a Tomas Soucek pass to make it 4-1.
Julen Lopetegui’s Irons stay 13th with 23 points.
Pep tries to stay steady at the four-star wheel
We all know what’s happened to Manchester City over the past two months, a collective that includes City boss Pep Guardiola. During previous dry spells at City, Guardiola was quick to talk about the performance rather than the results. But this one has seen Guardiola lamenting injuries and failings from his players, so would he be buoyant after a pair of Erling Haaland goals and a bright day for Savinho? Or might Guardiola stay consistent and talk about the fact that West Ham were right there with City in the first half, only to get to half time with the score line 2-0 to his side? He went with the latter, and that’s what we should’ve all expected from the Catalan wizard. City were good enough to win Saturday, and their finishing was near its best. The possession was decent, too, but there were still mistakes and there’s a long way to go for City to reach any of their season goals. Guardiola was the right guy to build up the side and the right one to keep them near their best levels. Now we’re finding out he might be the right guy to handle the rebuild, too.
Manchester City vs West Ham player ratings
(from fotmob.com)
Manchester City vs West Ham player ratings (from fotmob.com)
Manchester City vs West Ham player ratings (from fotmob.com)
What’s next?
Man City host Salford City in the FA Cup at 12:45pm ET Saturday, then visit Brentford the following Tuesday in the Premier League (Jan. 14).
West Ham go to Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Friday afternoon, then host Fulham at 2:30pm Jan. 14.
How to watch Manchester City vs West Ham live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 10 am ET Saturday (January 4)
Venue: Etihad Stadium — Manchester
TV Channel: Peacock
Streaming: Premier League on Peacock
Manchester City vs West Ham final score: 4-1
Vladimir Coufal o.g. 10', Erling Haaland 43', 56', Phil Foden 58', Niclas Fullkrug 71'
Manchester City vs West Ham live updates — By Nick Mendola
Full time — Manchester City 4-1 West Ham United
Man City sub
Haaland goes off in the 84th minute for Jack Grealish. No hat trick today.
Niclas Fullkrug goal — Man City 4-1 West Ham (71st minute)
Tomas Soucek’s low pass from the left is right into Niclas Fullkrug country, and the German’s lunge pokes it comfortably past Stefan Ortega.
Man City subs
Nathan Ake and Mateo Kovacic exit in favor of Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan.
4-0, 61'.
Phil Foden goal — Man City 4-0 West Ham (58th minute)
An errant West Ham pass gives De Bruyne time to survey a couple of options and he choose correctly, laying off for Foden to blast home.
Erling Haaland goal — Man City 3-0 West Ham (56th minute)
The Savinho to Haaland connection delivers again.
There’s so much to like about this play, as Savinho’s long dribble at full speed doesn’t stop him from slipping a well-weighted pass in to Haaland.
The Norwegian holds his shot for a split second, then dinks it back over the sliding Areola for 3-0.
It’s his 16th of the season, one behind Mo Salah. He may match the Egyptian before this is done.
West Ham sub
Jean-Clair Todibo limps off, as Konstantinos Mavropanos will take his place with the Irons down 2-0 in the 54th minute.
Halftime — Manchester City 2-0 West Ham United
West Ham can feel it should be on the score sheet, but certainly know it wasn’t a clean sheet first half from them either.
Julen Lopetegui’s visitors have held their own with 44% of the ball and an edge in shots (7-6), but Savinho’s been a menace on the left with an assist and the prodding of Coufal’s own goal.
All to do for the Irons in the second half.
Erling Haaland goal! Man City 2-0 West Ham (43rd minute)
Savinho whips in an early cross and Haaland was always prepared to take advantage,
The Norwegian is first to the back post to nod into a yawning frame.
There’s that second marker before the break.
Areola denies Lewis!
Rico Lewis swerves a powerful shot from 20 yards and Areola’s a second late but still slapsit away to keep it 1-0.
Chances for both in a City-held but not quite controlled game. A second goal before the break would be welcomed by Pep Guardiola.
Areola with another save
Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland cue up Bernardo Silva, who lunges into a low shot that Areola does well to adjust his body and save.
City get another chance, and give half-shouts for a penalty on Erling Haaland.
Soon, a corner. West Ham could use the break.
Irons up for this
Lucas Paqueta drags a shot wide as West Ham have not lacked in confidence despite the early own goal.
Of course, City go the other way and coax a save out of Alphonse Areola at the other end as soon as we type that.
1-0 City, 31'.
West Ham own goal — Man City 1-0 West Ham (10th minute)
Savinho sees his initial cross from the left blocked, but City get the ball right back and Bernardo Silva cues the Brazilian up for another rip.
This one takes a hard turn off the foot of Vladimir Coufal, and Alphonse Areola doesn’t have much hope here.
It looked like Savinho’s second goal in as many games, but has so far been marked as a Coufal own goal.
Mohammed Kudus lively early!
The Ghanaian is looking very bright on the right side, with one chance and one half-chance.
The former might’ve seen him offside through VAR if he scored, but Mohammed Kudus’ move to create a little space before lashing into the side netting was clever.
0-0, 8'.
Manchester City lineup
Ortega Moreno, Lewis, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Savinho, Foden, Haaland
West Ham lineup
Areola, Coufal, Todibo, Kilman, Wan-Bissaka, Alvarez, Soucek, Paqueta, Kudus, Fullkrug, Summerville
Manchester City vs West Ham preview — By Andy Edwards
Pep Guardiola said it was “just a relief” to win a game last time, as the struggling four-time defending champions won for just the second time in 14 games in all competitions (2W-3D-9L). Manchester City sit 6th in the table, four points behind 4th-place Chelsea at the halfway point of the season. Champions League qualification is well within reach, especially if they add to the squad in the transfer window. Erling Haaland (14 goals, 2nd-most) scored for the first time in five games in the win over Leicester City to snap his 494-minute goal drought (5.5 games).
There was no real relief for West Ham (13th - 23 points) last time out — only the final whistle after being beaten 5-0 by leaders Liverpool without a single shot on target in the game. To make matters worse, leading scorer Jarrod Bowen (5 goals, 4 assists) broke his foot during the game and is expected to be out “around six weeks.” Perhaps it was just a (massive) blip on the radar, though, as the Hammers were unbeaten in four before running into Liverpool at the wrong time. Julen Lopetegui was reportedly in danger of being fired last month, but reports this week claimed the Spaniard “will be given more time.” The gap to the top half of the table is just four points at the halfway point of the season, and the European places are only seven points away.
Manchester City team news, focus
OUT: John Stones (foot), Ederson (undisclosed), Ruben Dias (muscular), Rodri (torn ACL - out for season), Oscar Bobb (lower leg), Matheus Nunes (knock)
West Ham team news, focus
OUT: Lukasz Fabianski (head - MORE), Michail Antonio (DETAILS), Jarrod Bowen (undisclosed)
Manchester City vs West Ham prediction
If you take Bowen out of the team, who scares you for West Ham? City will have all the possession they want and get a bit of momentum going. Manchester City 3-1 West Ham.
