Manchester City cruised to a simple 3-0 victory over struggling West Ham to pile more misery on Nuno Espirito Santo, with his side now guaranteed to spend Christmas in the relegation zone.
It's the fifth time the Hammers have been consigned to the bottom three at Christmas, and despite surviving the previous two scares, might not be so lucky this time around. They are three points from safety, having fallen to their tenth defeat of a dismal season.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring via Phil Foden's cross before Tijjani Reijnders rounded off a smart second for the hosts, who close in on Arsenal (who play Everton on Saturday night), temporarily displacing them at the top.
Erling Haaland celebrates scoring Man City's third goal
Image: Erling Haaland has scored 38 goals for club and country this season
After conceding more chances than Pep Guardiola would deem comfortable - all three of which West Ham spurned early in the second period - Haaland made sure of victory with his 19th strike of a campaign that includes 38 goals for club and country. Results in the Premier League do not come much easier.
Nuno will point to an improved second half but such was their lack of conviction that the defeat felt inevitable, summed up perfectly by a late save from Gianluigi Donnarumma, who denied Summerville Crysencio a consolation goal with his face. Haaland passed up his opportunity for a hat-trick in stoppage time, too - the only reprieve of an otherwise sombre afternoon for the Londoners.
More to follow.
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