**Man City**cruised to a 3-0 win over **West Ham**to return to the top of the Premier League.
The Citizens were coming off the back of progression into the final four of the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2021, and the high spirits in their camp translated to a fast start with an early goal for Erling Haaland.
As half time neared, Tijjani Reijnders rewarded their dominance with a second strike, and the team were delivering the professional performance their manager would have wanted.
The second half was comparatively a difficult test, but City still had more than enough quality to enforce their superiority, scoring a third goal of the afternoon through their inevitable number nine.
Story of the Match
**Pep Guardiola**changed seven members of the starting eleven he used in midweek against Brentford. The creative pairing of Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki was restored behind the talismanic Erling Haaland while **Tijjani Reijnders**returned to the midfield with Bernardo Silva and Nico Gonzalez.
Nuno Espirito Santo switched three players in his defensive unit after a 3-2 loss to Aston Villa last weekend. Two of those alterations were enforced by participation in AFCON: **Ollie Scarles**stepped in for El Hadji Malick Diouf, and **Kyle Walker-Peters**played instead of Aaron Wan-Bissaka. After his own goal at the London Stadium, **Konstantinos Mavropanos**made way for Max Kilman.
The Citizens had been flawless until this point in December, and they showed no signs of slowing down with the chance to go to the top of the Premier League table by the end of this performance.
The in-form Foden found a gap in the opposition penalty area, receiving a slipped through ball from Nico. His cutback connected to Haaland, who was denied at the first attempt by Alphonse Areola. But ever alive, the striker had telegraphed the flight of the rebound, and he lashed the ball home.
Two big aerial opportunities then went astray for the hosts. Firstly, the other creative fulcrum for the team, Cherki, conjured up a pinpoint delivery to find the head of Haaland, who had peeled away from his markers in the box but missed the target completely from six yards out in the 10th minute.
Not long after, Reijnders down the wing and forced Walker-Peters into an intervention that produced a corner. Cherki clipped the ball into the danger zone, and this time, it was Josko Gvardiol who met the cross: he reached the ball before Areola could punch, but the central defender also missed the target.
More minutes passed with the action primarily in the visitors’ half of the pitch. An improvised volley from Haaland hit the side netting, and Reijnders forced Areola into another block away from his line.
**West Ham**had attempted to put up another disciplined performance, but with only one touch in the opposition box after 35 minutes, their struggles were clear, and the uphill battle soon became steeper.
Cherki collected the ball back from a claret and blue shirt in the midfield, silkily sliding into the box. He fed Haaland, who flipped the ball to Reijnders, and the Dutchman dug out a brilliant shot to hit the roof of the net. City were coasting towards another three points and the summit in the standings.
The second half would be a test of the visitors’ resilience: would they wilt away or fight back?
Quickly, it was clear that Espirito Santo’s men refused to give City an easy time of things. Gianluigi Donnarumma had nothing to do before the break, but he was quickly called into action as Crysencio Summerville slipped away from Bernardo on the left wing and forced a save out of the shot stopper. Freddie Potts followed up to provoke another block before Mateus Fernandes fired over the bar.
The chance for the Irons was a clean counterattack as Jarrod Bowen broke away from Nico O’Reilly and raced away into City territory. He pulled an effort wide of the target, but the confidence in their camp was creating reason for respect from their opponents, still without a shot in the second half.
Eventually, Guardiola chose to turn to his bench. He sent on Rico Lewis as a replacement for Reijnders, and Cherki came off for Savinho. It did not take long for them to contribute positively.
The guests were growing in the game, but City managed to put out a fire and play some passes in midfield before Matheus Nunes swung the ball out to **Savinho**in the transition. The winger was able to stay clear of Jean-Clair Todibo, feeding Lewis, whose flick trickled through the legs of Kilman. A mix-up between Todibo and Walker-Peters paved the way for Haaland to hammer home his second.
West Ham still showed some signs of life. Lucas Paqueta played a through ball for Summerville to send another strike at Donnarumma, who then calmly patted down a free kick from the Brazilian.
But in truth, it never looked like the Irons had the tools to unnerve their opponents at the Etihad Stadium. City continued to control the proceedings on home soil, and the only jeopardy hung over whether Haaland would hit his hat-trick (and 150 goals in a blue shirt) before the game was over.
Down to a lack of service, and a miss in the penultimate minute of injury time, he would not meet that mark— but the goal for the greater good had been achieved. City were sitting pretty in pole position.