FT: West Ham 0-4 Man City: Hammers not solid enough vs Pep’s mighty men

It was always going to be a daunting task for West Ham United. And once against Pep Guardiola’s formidable Manchester City, they suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the tactical Spanish genius’s visiting side at the London Stadium.

Although the Hammers clearly deserved a goal in the contest, Manuel Pellegrini’s side is still nowhere near strong enough defensively to stop an attack like City’s. And that was expressed in full detail in the opening 45 minutes. With Arthur Masuaku again a defensive liability on the afternoon, the Premier League titleholders exploited that weakness initially in the 11st minute, when Raheem Sterling was able to get his deflected cross into the path of David Silva for the opening goal.

Despite the Hammers showing offense intent and having Michail Antonio have a clear chance only to hit at City goalkeeper Eduardo, the visitors made it an easy 2-0 lead in the 19th minute when Sterling added another tally to his impressive campaign off great work Leroy Sane.

And Masuaku was again at fault for the third goal, as he failed to read Fernandinho’s cross to Sterling, who returned the favor to Sane for the German to score his goal in the 34th minute.

West Ham didn’t give up though and showed great spirit throughout. Marko Arnautovic was ubiquitous all over the field including outstanding track backs into his own half. But the Hammers couldn’t take advantage of their opportunities to try and get back into the contest, with Antonio again in the second half.

And City would complete another dominant performance in second stoppage time when Sane smashed home his second to make it another rousing performance at the London Stadium for a Guardiola side.

West Ham United will hope for a much better outcome when they face a much easier side next weekend when they face struggling Newcastle at St. James’ Park on Saturday.