Manchester City narrowly won 2-1 over West Ham United in Week 26 of the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium, Saturday (27/2).
Man City held West Ham 1-1 in the first half. Man City could break the deadlock by taking the lead in the 30th minute with a header from center back Ruben Dias. The Portuguese defender made good use of Kevin de Bruyne’s cross from the right.
It’s just that, Towards the end of the first half, Antonio equalized the score 1-1 in the 43rd minute. Vladimir Coufal’s low cross from the right side was cheated by Lingard and was immediately struck by Antonio to become a goal.
Manchester Blue still dominated the game as well as attacks in the second half. The pressure on West Ham was launched by Man City from a number of sectors.
When the two wings failed to create opportunities, Fernandinho and his friends experimented from the central sector. However, until the middle of the second half these efforts had not yielded any results.
De Bruyne and Feran Torres’s kicks in the 57th and 60th minute were also blocked by the West Ham defense.
Waiting for Man City to take the lead again paid off in the 68th minute, which came back through the defender. This time it was John Stones’ turn to break into Randolph’s goal in the second half after receiving Riyad Mahrez’s pass.
In the remainder of the match, the attacks of the two teams began to loosen up. Man City continued to press West Ham, but did not play aggressively anymore.
West Ham’s efforts to suppress The Citizens are also often one-sided and late in getting help from other lines.
West Ham’s last chance also failed to take advantage of Issa Diop to equalize during injury time. Diop’s header greeted Lingard’s cross in the 90th minute + 4 was still sideways on the left side of the Man City goal.
Without additional goals, the match ended with a score of 2-1 for Man City’s victory over West Ham. The three points won by Man City over West Ham made Pep Guardiola’s team further away from Manchester United by 13 points.
John Stones and Ruben Dias prove they are not only a strong fortress of Manchester City but also a solution to score goals.
Since Ruben Dias’ arrival at the start of this season, Manchester City have really become a different team. The duo of Ruben Dias and John Stones can really present a solid wall at the back.
After having struggled at the start of the season, the combination of John Stones and Ruben Dias was able to present many clean sheets in the Premier League. Currently, Man City are the solidest team with only 16 goals conceded so far.
Especially when John Stones and Ruben Dias appeared together in 16 Premier League matches, Man City only conceded three goals.
