Starting XI: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne ©, Bernardo, Doku, Grealish, Haaland.

Starting XI: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne ©, Bernardo, Doku, Grealish, Haaland.

Player Ratings

Ederson – 7
Cannot be faulted for the goal, did well with distribution even when ran almost to the halfway line to stop an attack, good saves in the second half

Rico Lewis – 7
Held his ground while defending despite a couple of nerving moments, assisted Haaland’s second goal.

Manuel Akanji – 6
Not necessarily a poor performance, but was exploited often by pacing attackers, an unnecessary yellow card in the end.

Ruben Dias – 5
Victim of his standards, perhaps, but it was a ridiculous own-goal to concede, however unlucky it may be.

Josko Gvardiol – 5
Repeatedly lost possession, was caught out of position a few times, and left space for preventable attacks, especially the ones driven by Bowen.

Mateo Kovacic – 6
Had a relatively quiet game, barring a promising through ball to Haaland, and reserved himself to holding the midfield

Bernardo Silva – 8
There was barely any part of the pitch that was untouched by the Portuguese, baffling how he holds himself back from scoring at times but more than makes up by putting up an unmatched shift.

Kevin De Bruyne – 8
Frequently challenged this game, viciously precise with his passing in the first half, but was spun around on more than one occasion in the second half.

Jeremy Doku – 7
He had a routine performance on the right wing, was promising in the attack, and did a better job finding his teammates.

Jack Grealish – 7
Helped create several chances from his position on the left, worked well with Kevin De Bruyne, and could have got himself on the scoresheet

Erling Haaland – 9 (Man of the Match)
An early miss followed by a splendid hat-trick. Logically, that’s an excellent way to debunk the argument that 70 league goals in 69 appearances can be scored by “any striker placed in this City squad.”

Substitutes:

Ilkay Gundogan – 7
Helped add balance to the midfield, characteristic through ball to Haaland.

Matheus Nunes – 7
Grabbed an assist and did well to collect passes from City clearance to set up counter-attacks.

Kyle Walker – 6
Lost the ball in the closing moments that could have led to a goal, which ultimately led to Akanji’s yellow card.

This post has been edited by kjs86: Sep 15 2024, 04:15 AM

Player Ratings

Ederson: Charging out of his area to head into touch was a reminder of how well he reads the game, and his kicking was on point. 7

Lewis: Becoming an extremely good cog in the City machine, although he should have scored when he burst onto a Haaland pass in the box. 7

Akanji: Most of the danger was away from his side, although it wasn't an easy day for the defence with West Ham's pace up front. 6

Dias: Unfortunate to concede an own goal from Bowen's cross, although his passing and heading wasn't as accurate as it normally is. 5

Gvardiol: Struggled all game to handle Bowen, who had the beating of him too many times. Will be relieved not to be facing West Ham again any time soon. 5

Kovacic: Solid enough in the middle, anticipating plenty and moving the ball on. The odd lapse did throw City into some vulnerable positions though. 7

Silva: A masterclass, covering every blade of grass and popping up exactly where he needed to be all of the time. Aside from a goal, he did everything. 9

De Bruyne: Lethal in the first 45 minutes with every touch, scaring the life out of West Ham. He too often gave the ball away in the second half. 7

Doku: Really bright on the ball, causing West Ham defenders all manner of problems with his dribbling. Always a useful option on the right. 7

Grealish: Complemented Doku well and worked intelligently with De Bruyne down the left, creating goalscoring opportunities that could have been taken. 7

Haaland: Two brilliant goals to see City take the lead twice. A spectator for much of the second half before netting his third for successive hat tricks. 9

Substitutes

Gundogan (for Doku, 68) Settled things down in midfield. 6

Nunes (for Grealish, 72) Lovely vision for the assist. 7

Walker (for Gvardiol, 88) No time

Ake (for De Bruyne, 88) No time

Not used: Ortega, Stones, Rodri, O'Reilly, McAtee

Player Ratings

GK: Ederson - 6/10 - Alert off his line to clear danger. Was rarely given trouble in way of shot-stopping.

RB: Rico Lewis - 7/10 - Seems to have relegated Walker to the bench with a series of fine performances in City's inverted right-back role. Credited with an assist for Haaland's second goal.

CB: Manuel Akanji - 6/10 - The Swiss defender's supreme technique and muscular build meant Antonio didn't break him into much of a sweat.

CB: Ruben Dias - 5/10 - A tad clumsy for the own goal and guilty of some skewed passing, but aside from that was largely fine.

LB: Josko Gvardiol - 6/10 - Put to work by Bowen down his side, even if the only tangible blemish on his record was allowing the cross for Dias' own goal.

DM: Mateo Kovacic - 6/10 - Bright in the first half but notably faded in the second when West Ham turned up the pressure. Not as strong or imposing as Rodri so that made sense.

CM: Bernardo Silva - 7/10 - Now clear of Cristiano Ronaldo (37), Bruno Fernandes (41) and Nani (43) as the Portuguese player with the most Premier League assists (44). Tidy and energetic as ever.

CM: Kevin De Bruyne - 7/10 - Now at the stage of his career where even if he's not chalking up goals or assists, De Bruyne is completely controlling the flow of the game without the need to take over from a physical perspective.

RW: Jeremy Doku - 7/10 - Tormented Emerson from the off. Hurried his way into space and down the touchline. Fizzed his crosses towards City bodies but didn't always find his man when he maybe should have.

CF: Erling Haaland - 10/10 - Now averaging over one goal-per-game in the Premier League, with 70 in 69 outings for City. Insane.

LW: Jack Grealish - 6/10 - A solid if safe return to the starting lineup for Grealish, who was quicker in releasing the ball than usual and knew when to bring others into play.

Substitutes

SUB: Ilkay Gundogan (68' for Doku) - 6/10

SUB: Matheus Nunes (72' for Grealish) - 7/10

SUB: Kyle Walker (88' for Gvardiol) - N/A

SUB: Nathan Ake (88' for De Bruyne) - N/A

Subs not used: Stefan Ortega (GK), John Stones, Rodri, Nico O'Reilly, James McAtee

Manager

Pep Guardiola - 7/10 - City had total control of the game for long stretches, though when they didn't they were alarmingly open. A good win on the board but still work to do for the long season ahead.

Player Ratings

Ederson (6/10):

Saw little action aside from the goal which he could do nothing about due to being wrong-footed.

Rico Lewis (7/10):

Highly involved in the attacks, nearly scoring himself as well as setting up Haaland's second.

Manuel Akanji (6/10):

Made a vital tackle on Michail Antonio to prevent an equaliser.

Ruben Dias (5/10):

Misjudged Jarrod Bowen's cross in a clumsy own goal in one of very few attacks he had to face. Helped Gvardiol out of a tricky situation later.

Josko Gvardiol (5/10):

Not tight enough on Bowen, didn't do much attacking.

Kevin De Bruyne (8/10):

Orchestrated City's best moves and unlucky not to score when he hammered the woodwork for the second game in a row.

Mateo Kovacic (6/10):

Played his part in the second goal but not always convincing defensively.

Bernardo Silva (7/10):

Energetic and incisive. His pressing sparked the first goal and his passing was spot-on.

Jeremy Doku (5/10):

Slowed down several promising moves with a bad touch or pass. Struggled on the right wing.

Erling Haaland (10/10):

He missed a good headed chance early on then spent the rest of the game making up for it. Each goal was impressive in its own way but his second was truly unstoppable.

Jack Grealish (6/10):

Looked well up for it and made an imposing start but couldn't make the most of his shooting chances.

Subs & Manager

Ilkay Gundogan (6/10):

Gave City the control they needed to see the game out.

Matheus Nunes (6/10):

Did well to set up Haaland's third with a good run and pass.

Kyle Walker (N/A):

Got his first minutes of the season late on.

Nathan Ake (N/A):

Brought on in the 89th minute.

Pep Guardiola (7/10):

An outstanding away display and was able to make his substitutions early. His side are top already, good luck to anyone trying to dislodge them.

Player Ratings

Ederson (5.5): As most City games, he did not have much to do. Not at fault for West Ham goal. Gets a rating for putting on his shirt and getting onto the pitch.

Rico Lewis (9): What did Guardiola do with this kid? Helped in city build up, dealt well with Kudus, assisted a goal and had a chance to score. Another great performance from the young right back.

Ruben Dias (4): Did not have anything to do most of the game but scored an own goal.

Manuel Akanji (6): Did not have much to do. Backed city press well and as always did his job competently.

Joško Gvardiol (5): Not the best performance of the Croatian. Did not add much in attack and failed to deal with Bowen all game.

Matteo Kovacic (8): Guardiola is turning Kovacic into Rodri. The Croatian helped City build up, recycled the ball, read the play well. Did not feel like Rodri is missing which is the best compliment to another very competent performance from Kovacic.

Jeremy Doku (6): As always with Doku, some good plays followed by some frustrating decision making. As expected was the first City player to be hooked off.

Bernardo Silva (8.5): Was everywhere. Helped City progress whenever West Ham had the courage to play high. His pressing led to Paqueta turnover. Assisted city first goal.

Kevin De Bruyne (9): A vintage KDB performance. Hit the post with a great shot, kept everything ticking and was at his sublime best. Helped with City interplay in tight spaces and had some line breaking passes. If he plays at this level all season, good luck to everyone.

Jack Grealish (7): A lively performance from the English winger. Tired Bissaka all game and had some very good combinations with Bernando Silva and De Bruyne on the left side. This wasthe best performance from Grealish from a long time.

Erlind Haaland (9.5): A goalscoring robot. He missed one easy chance though, hence the 9.5 and not a 10.

Man City Champions League squad (* - B List player):

Ederson, Ortega, Carson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Ake, Gvardiol, Akanji, Lewis*, Wilson-Esbrand, Kovacic, Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Bernardo, Nunes, Foden, McAtee, Grealish, Doku, Savinho, Haaland.

Erling Haaland is close to committing his future to Manchester City by signing a lucrative contract extension, according to Spanish newspaper Marca.

Lee Carsley liked what he saw from England and Manchester City star Jack Grealish against the Republic of Ireland, as the interim manager enjoyed a winning start to his temporary reign.

Man City’s biggest B-team sales since 2016

The 54 players were sold for a combined £511.8m


Player Sold to Fee

Cole Palmer Chelsea £42.5M

Yan Couto* B. Dortmund £25.8M

Kelechi Iheanacho Leicester £25M

Romeo Lavia Southampton £22.5M

Brahim Diaz Real Madrid £22M

Angelino RB Leipzig £21.3M
\
Jadon Sancho** B. Dortmund £21.2M

Liam Delap Ipswich £20M

Taylor Harwood-Bellis Southampton £19.8M

James Trafford Burnley £19M

Pedro Porro*** Sporting Lisbon £17.4M

Carlos Borges Ajax £17.2M

Douglas Luiz Aston Villa £15M

Gavin Bazunu Southampton £15M

Shea Charles Southampton £15M

Angus Gunn Southampton £13.5M

Enes Unal Villarreal £12M

Lukas Nmecha Wolfsburg £11.1M

Jack Harrison Leeds United £11M

Rabbi Matondo Schalke £10.3M

Aaron Mooy Huddersfield £10M

Samuel Edozie Southampton £10M

Uriel Antuna Chivas £10M

Felix Correira Juventus £9.5M

Ivan Ilic Hellas Verona £9.5M

Jason Denayer Lyon £9M

Pablo Maffeo Stuttgart £8.8M

Juan Larios Southampton £6M

Darko Gyabi Leeds United £5M

Ko Itakura B. Monchengladbach £5M

Oliver Ntcham Celtic £4.5

Tommy Doyle Wolves £4.3M

Yangel Herrera Girona £4.2M

Geronimo Rulli R. Sociedad £4M

Seko Fofana Udinese £3.8M

Nahuel Ferraresi Sao Paulo £3.6M

Manu Garcia Sporting Gijon £3.6M

Aro Muric Burnley £3M

Bersant Celina Swansea £3M

Joshua Kayode S. Donetsk £3M

Patrick Roberts Sunderland £3M

Taylor Richards Brighton £2.5M

Benjamin Garre Racing Club £2M

Tosin Adarabioyo Fulham £2M

Thierry Ambrose Metz £1.8M

Ruben Sobrino Alaves £1.8M

Dire Mebude Westerlo £1.7M

CJ Egan-Riley Burnley £1M

Jeremie Frimpong Celtic £1M

Charlie McNeill Man Utd £750K

Terence Kongolo Hereenveen £750K

Tyler Fletcher Man Utd £630K

Luca Barrington Brighton £500K

Harvey Griffiths Wolves £350K

Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano has spoken about the club ambitions in the transfer market after a quiet summer


In the Premier League, no other club spent less than the Blues did with their outlay on Savinho (£21m potentially rising to £33.6m), Ilkay Gundogan (free) and Divin Mubama (up to £2m) their lowest spend since 2006. With over £150m banked in sales thanks in large part to the £82m departure of Julian Alvarez, City also recorded an enormous profit.

That is something the club is open to doing, according to CEO Ferran Soriano, as he explained that their profit was not an ambition that they are seeking above all else. While that money does help to make the club financially sustainable, Soriano says the priority remains to have a squad capable of winning things.

"We got a good offer and we had an extraordinary profit but we were not counting on it,” he told the FT. “This is important because for Manchester City the objective is to win and to be financially sustainable. It’s not to make an extraordinary profit every year. We have to assume this has ups and downs.”


He added: “Our financial situation is very stable because our football situation is very stable. Other teams — they change the coach every two years. Life is very difficult because you have to rethink the whole thing.”

Bayern Munich and Germany international superstar Jamal Musiala is ready to join Manchester City in the 2025 summer transfer window.

both Pep Guardiola and Manchester City will be unwilling to sell Croatian international midfielder Mateo Kovacic during the next January transfer window.

Manchester City ‘already checked on’ how Crystal Palace and England international centre-back Marc Guehi and how the defender’s ‘future may develop’.

Interest from the Etihad Stadium in Selhurst Park talent does not stop there however, with the report going on to reveal that City ‘expressed an interest’ in Eberechi Eze, alongside the likes of local rivals Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

Palace are said to have lined up Johan Bakayoko from PSV Eindhoven as Eze’s replacement such was there belief that the midfielder would leave for a Premier League giant. However, no such offers would arrive for the player.

Finally, City have also been tied to interest in Palace’s Adam Wharton – alongside rivals Liverpool – as they continue their hunt for suitable support to Rodri in defensive midfield, but primarily with a view towards a potential move next summer.

Nathan Ake was withdrawn from action with the Netherlands having sustained a ‘very serious injury’ in the UEFA Nations League meeting with Germany

Manchester City privately saw Kevin De Bruyne reject the opportunity to become the club’s new captain, a report has revealed.

Fabrizio Romano has revealed both Real Madrid and Manchester City will no doubt be in the race to sign Jamal Musiala, should the player not extend his Bayern Munich deal.