Manchester City 3-0 West Ham Review

Premier League GW17

Manchester City finish their last home game of the year with a win and go seven games unbeaten for the first time since the 23/24 season. Making a Premier League game look comfortable despite missing key players and continuing to keep pace with Arsenal in the title race.

MOTM: ERLING HAALAND

Notable Stats:

• Erling Haaland has now scored more Premier League goals than Cristiano Ronaldo (104).

• West Ham have failed to have a single shot in the first half of a Premier League game for the first time since March 2021 against Manchester United.

• Rayan Cherki created more chances (5) than every other player on the pitch combined (2) in the first half vs. West Ham.

• Erling Haaland has now scored the same number of Premier League goals as Didier Drogba (104). The Man City man has played 140 fewer games than the Ivorian.

• Erling Haaland has now scored more Premier League goals against West Ham than any other side (11).

• Pep Guardiola has faced West Ham more times without losing than any other side in the Premier League during his managerial career (19).

Game Stats:

Manchester City 3-0 West Ham

• xG: 2.81 - 0.79

• xThreat: 2.17 - 0.55

• Possession: 65.8% - 34.2%

• Field Tilt: 86.9% - 13.1%

• Penalty Box Shots: 14 - 5

• Deep Entries: 17 - 5

• PPDA: 7.8 - 14.3

• High Turnovers: 8 - 6

Manchester City have won five consecutive Premier League games for the first time since the 19th of May 2024.

Donnarumma has now completed fourteen consecutive Premier League matches for Manchester City, which Ederson did not manage during the entirety of the 24/25 season. His longest run last season was 12.

Ruben Dias has now completed 20 full 90s this season, the most of any City player, with Donnarumma (19) and Nunes (16) the closest to him.

If you want to stay up-to-date on individual player minutes, back four combinations, underlying numbers, and more, check out the live Google sheet below. 👇

Manchester City set up with the team you’d have expected to see, Reijnders keeping his place, rather than someone like Savinho coming in. The best call given the limited attacking options off the bench.

In possession, O’Reilly pushed up on the left side, Nunes a bit more tucked inside this time, as Cherki would be on the touchline and the team aimed to find him isolated 1v1 in space to create. Finishing the game with their joint-best total for switches in a PL match this season suggests they did manage to find him.

Foden moves inside and gives City a 4v3 in the midfield. Bait the front line of West Ham to press, find the free player through the lines, or work around into O’Reilly and Cherki out wide.

We didn’t get to see much of City pressing West Ham as they’d mostly go long with their goal-kicks and push all their players up higher. When we did, Foden was alongside Haaland, looking to curve their runs and push the keeper over to the left side. Silva and Reijnders are tracking the West Ham midfielders. Nico is helping to maintain the +1 on the backline with O’Reilly jumping, or coming over to support on one side and prevent the pass back inside.

E. Haaland 5' 1-0  

Nico Gonzalez dribbles past Paqueta, picks out the run of Foden into the box, running off the back of Fernandes unmarked. He cuts it back to Haaland at the top of the box, first shot saved by Areola. It’s good to see the number of City players attacking the box with Reijnders and Silva at the top. Cherki is coming inside.

Haaland doesn't miss the rebound, opening the scoring for Manchester City, and taking him to 18 league goals.

More early chances for City with Haaland (10’) and Gvardiol (13’) headers having headers, both from Cherki crosses, and the latter from a corner. Reijnders (36’) has a good chance saved, played through into the box by Cherki, only to be saved by Areola.

T. Reijnders 38' 2-0  

Cherki comes across to counter press, wins the ball from Paqueta, and dribbles his way into the box before passing across to Haaland on his inside. Touch from him and pass to Reijnders arriving in the middle of the box.

Reijnders burst through to the top of the 6-yard box and digs the ball out to the roof of the net, doubling the lead, and scoring his first PL goal at the Etihad.

Manchester City controlled West Ham well in the first half, preventing them from taking a single shot. Creating 5 big chances. It could have been three or four, but a two-goal lead meant West Ham needed to be aggressive in the second half if they wanted to pick up any points.

They started the second half on the front foot, with Donnarumma forced to make a double save (47’). Stopping the low cross into the 6-yard box by Summerville, and then the follow-up shot by Potts.

Ruben Dias gets a header off a free kick taken by Rayan Cherki, which they spent a couple of minutes speaking about before taking (50’). Weak effort that was easy for Areola to catch.

Bowen had the best chance for West Ham on the break (54’) after an attack by Manchester City breaks down on the edge of the box. O’Reilly gets back to push him wide by the shot whistles past the far-post.

Lewis, Khusanov, and Savinho on for Reijnders, Nico, and Cherki (67’). Clear sign of how much control the team was able to re-establish after a flurry of West Ham chances, and the restored trust in the squad options after the performance against Brentford in the League Cup.

Rico Lewis into midfield, Khusanov to right-back, and Matheus Nunes moved to DM as we saw in the final twenty minutes against Brentford. Which must have impressed Guardiola. Since the fitness of Rodri and his return timeline are up in the air, Nunes being able to relieve Nico Gonzalez for the final twenty minutes will go a long way to managing his fitness throughout the season.

E. Haaland 69' 3-0  

Long pass over the top from Matheus Nunes to pick out the run of Savinho. He takes the ball down, cuts back inside, and then passes to the oncoming Rico Lewis, who touches it into the path of Haaland.

Before Haaland can reach it, the West Ham defenders get to the ball and mess up their attempt to clear it, leaving it loose for Haaland to score his second of the game.

Divine Mukasa came on for Silva (75’) to make his Premier League debut. He’s now played 258 minutes for the first team, and we’ll likely see him feature more with the FA Cup games in the new year.

A couple more chances between Summerville and Paqueta (76’) for West Ham. Followed by some chances for City with Foden's shot (82’) and Savinhos (84’), both from Rico Lewis playing them through.

Another Gvardiol header (90+3’) from Foden's corner. Despite not scoring in this game, the threat of corners with Gvardiol continues, which is a positive sign.

Right towards the final minute, Haaland had an excellent chance to get a hat-trick after this move and pass from Divine Mukasa on his PL debut. He missed going for the far-post but would likely score if the shot were aimed at the near-post.

It was only fifteen minutes against West Ham for Mukasa, and in that time, he continued to show the maturity we have seen in the League Cup games. Should be more involved come next season, depending on the departures.

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Moving Forward

Two stats jumped out to me as a sign of how far the team has come from the struggles of the 24/25 season.

• Manchester City have now won seven consecutive games across all competitions for the first time since the 23/24 season run-in from Chelsea (April 20th, 2024) to West Ham (May 19th, 2024).

• Manchester City have kept three consecutive clean sheets twice during this season. Brentford (A) > Villarreal (A) and Palace (A) > West Ham (H). Last season, they only managed to do that once, and it came at the very end of the season with Forest (FA) > Southampton (A).

In its own way, like an important win against a rival, to make a home match in the PL look as comfortable as this goes a long way towards restoring the confidence in the team that is rebuilding back to the City of old. As I mentioned after the Brentford game, that doesn’t mean they have nothing to improve on, as there are plenty, but a key part of City at their very best was making these games look routine. Just as they did against West Ham at the weekend.

Tijjani Reijnders hasn't shown his best form for Manchester City this season, although we've seen plenty of good moments, and against West Ham, he looked far more involved. Despite that, he's on track for 20 G+A across all competitions this season, which Gundogan only managed once at City (20/21). I’m confident he’s going to deliver some important goals for the team later this season. Reijnders has his faults defensively, but is incredibly valuable with his runs into the box, always on the move to get available to receive, which helps to keep the ball moving and works the opposition. Compliments players like Cherki, who want to take lots of little touches, you need players prepared to run around him.

Rayan Cherki received 20 progressive passes against West Ham, the most by a City player in a single Premier League match this season, and he only completed 66 minutes. It's also the 6th most by a PL player in a single match this season. All five players ahead of Cherki completed a full ninety. There was a clear plan by the team to find him isolated on the right wing, and they executed it.

It was a different role for Rayan Cherki against West Ham, with the team looking to find him isolated 1v1, in space on the right wing, compared to some of his previous performances. 6 chances created. 3/6 dribbles completed. As we’ve seen for a few weeks now, Cherki is showing that he’s ready to be a key player this season.

I’m incredibly impressed with the progress Matheus Nunes has made this season. He's more measured in his defending, knowing when to hold his ground, and has brought the same calm approach to midfield in the last twenty minutes of the games against Brentford (LC) and West Ham. Takes clever extra touches into space to buy himself time under pressure. Knows when to turn a player and carry up the pitch. Levels ahead of the player that arrive in 2023. Made the most progressive passes against West Ham. 10/15 ground duels won. 4/5 long balls completed.

Matheus Nunes completed 100 passes against West Ham (H), his third game in which he has completed 100+ passes across his career. The other two are against Everton (October 18, 2025) and Leicester City (April 2, 2025). As well as that, Nunes made 12 progressive passes. The only match he completed more was earlier this season against Villarreal (13) in the Champions League. Made the most progressive passes against West Ham. 10/15 ground duels won. 4/5 long balls completed.

Here is a graphic I put together to highlight the minutes by game for the City players in the Premier League, as well as the total minutes. Several injuries have prevented players from either getting into the team sooner or putting them down the pecking order. The starting eleven is clearly defined right now.

Next up for Manchester City is Nottingham Forest (A) on the 27th of December at 12:30 (UK). The first game of the weekend, and another chance to go top as Arsenal don’t play until 15:00 against Brighton (H).

Nottingham Forest are currently sitting 17th in the Premier League on 18 points, with a game in hand against Fulham. Five points ahead of West Ham in the relegation zone.