Still No Home Points For Lopetegui

Both fixtures between West Ham United and Manchester City last season ended in 3-1 wins for the Citizens and it was the same outcome in the first meeting of the two sides this season, as Josep Guardiola’s side extended their unbeaten start to the campaign in Stratford in Saturday’s late kick-off.

Alphonse Areola, Guido Rodríguez, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Lucas Paquetá, Emerson Palmieri, Mohamed Kudus and Michail Antonio were all restored to the starting line-up. Julen Lopetegui dropped both Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček to the bench with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Edson Álvarez replacing the Czech pair. Łukasz Fabiański, Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Füllkrug and youngster Kaelan Casey were also amongst the substitutes.

Before kick-off, new signing Carlos Soler was presented to the crowd and he will be in contention for the team’s next game at Fulham on September 14.

Given the transition that West Ham had gone through during the summer, their fans were expecting them to put in a good performance and to be fair to them, they did just that. They were on the front-foot early on and might have been ahead when a cross from Kudus was met by Antonio but unfortunately, Joško Gvardiol saw the danger and stopped the ball from going into the net

West Ham weren’t about to give up though and kept up the pressure and had another chance but Jarrod Bowen’s effort was well dealt with by visiting goalkeeper Ederson.

Guardiola’s team then started to turn the tables but fortunately, Erling Haaland somehow missed the target when well set up by Jack Grealish.

However, that proved to be the spark that the Citizens needed to click into gear and once they are in their groove, there really is no stopping them!!! With only ten minutes gone, Haaland pounced on a mistake from Paquetá and although Álvarez tried to help his teammate out, the Norwegian striker was too quick and placed the ball past Areola.

From that point on, there was no looking back. Kevin De Bruyne was brilliantly denied by the home stopper, before the Belgian hit the post.

Going behind so early didn’t deter the Irons who were pushing for an equaliser. They eventually got one but it came from an unlikely source, as Bowen’s cross was diverted into his own net by Rúben Dias.

Eleven minutes later, Haaland was on the scoresheet again when he combined to great effect with Mateo Kovačić, Grealish and Rico Lewis to send a powerful shot past Areola.

The Citizens could have had a healthier advantage going into the break but, thankfully for the home side, both Lewis and De Bruyne were wasteful so when referee Michael Oliver blew the whistle for the break, Lopetegui’s men could count themselves fortunate only to be a goal down.

The new Hammers Head-Coach made a substitution during the interval, as Łukasz Fabiański was sent on for Areola.

The hosts made a bright start to the second-half and could have levelled matters for a second time within six minutes of the action recommencing when Bowen played the ball back to Kudus and he thought he had beat Ederson but the stopper was relieved to see the ball thump the post.

West Ham had certainly improved in the second-half and they still had their ever-loyal fan base behind them. Rodríguez attempted a long-range shot but unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough to trouble Ederson.

Two more changes were made by Lopetegui, as Coufal and Füllkrug entered the fray for Palmieri and Antonio.

Try as they might, West Ham just couldn’t find another goal which prompted Lopetegui to change personnel again by withdrawing Álvarez to bring on Souček.

You always knew that Guardiola’s men might not have finished there and with eighty three minutes gone, Fabiański was finally beaten, as Haaland claimed his first ever Premier League hat-trick away from The Etihad Stadium.

Minutes later, Summerville was introduced for Bowen and he almost made an immediate impact but he was astonishingly kept out by Ederson.

Having taken just three points from the opening three games, Lopetegui is certainly hoping for an improvement when he takes his side to Fulham after the international break.

One piece of transfer news that was finally confirmed this morning is that defender Kurt Zouma has completed a season-long loan move to Saudi Pro League club Al-Orobah. The 29-year-old follows teammates James Ward-Prowse, Maxwel Cornet and Nayef Aguerd who all left Stratford late on Friday night.