Premier League
Manchester City 2-1 West Ham United 

Saturday, 27th February 2021
by Chris Wilkerson

An organised and disciplined West Ham went down at the hands of the Manchester City behemoth, losing 2-1 to the side that will go on to win the league.



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Player Ratings

Darren Randolph
Beaten by the two shots he faced, he possibly could have done better with the first header.


Vladimir Coufal
Can be very happy with his individual play. His run forward and pass to Lingard were key in the goal, whilst his defensive work was excellent. Torres was barely seen, how well he was marshalled by Coufal.


Aaron Cresswell
One outstanding back post header, something he often does well but is criticised as not being good at, saved the side in a very precarious situation. As the third centre back, he didn?EUR(TM)t get the opportunity to step forward as much, and the left side was quite ineffective with Cresswell cautious and Johnson not playing too well in City?EUR(TM)s half.


Issa Diop
People know his weakness is in the air, but the blame straight for him after the City opener is harsh. The ball is just perfect and unexpected too. The central defenders, Dawson and Diop, are close together and I think he is just beaten by a very good pass. No shame in it. Where he was wild, a few big fouls or attempts at fouls where he got beaten, was the issue, but he will make those errors with the way he plays as he does step out and look for the ball at times.


Craig Dawson
He was defensively fine, comfortably average, but it was excellent to see him stepping out and pinging diagonal passes to allow the press to be beaten.


Ben Johnson
Looked like the step up in quality against City was a little too much for him. His passing suffered, he made some sloppy errors that looked anxious, and a few times it was clear Mahrez was too good for him. It also hamstrung the team a touch, the left side is usually quite attacking but today was poor.


Declan Rice
His first half was stronger, showing himself very capable of living with the world class players around him, and disrupting them too. He never really made a mark in the attacking play, understandable against the opponents but still frustrating.


Tomas Soucek
More active than Dec, with moments in attack to complement strong defensive play. He?EUR(TM)s improving on the ball each week, and his awkward look hides a smart and sometimes graceful mover with the ball.


Pablo Fornals
Fornals and Lingard were really responsible for the moments that unsettled the hosts. Fornals in particular was brilliant defending from the front, with more tackles and interceptions than Rice, whilst the way he opened up the right side of the pitch for the Antonio goal was excellent.


Jesse Lingard
Much the same as Fornals, although where the Spaniard had more industry, Lingard had more class. Assist for the goal, which may well have been going in, his pressing was good and you could see a relationship with Fornals. The positive of that is it is clear now he has chemistry with this squad, Benrahma, Lanzini and Fornals all standing out in appearances with him.


Michail Antonio
A couple of those moments where you feel only Antonio could be a Premier League footballer who does something like that, but the flip side is his unpredictably seems to baffle defenders as much as they?EUR(TM)re unsettled by his running and strength. Good instincts for the goal, regardless of if it was going in or not.



Substitutes

Said Benrahma
(Replaced Johnson, 83) What he did that Bowen didn?EUR(TM)t was get on the ball and try run or clever interchanges. Looked like he could have threatened, given more time.


Jarrod Bowen
(Replaced Fornals, 83) No blame, he was put on up front and got a few touches in a period where we looked out of ideas, apart from crosses into the box.


David Martin
Did not play.


Nathan Trott
Did not play.


Fabian Balbuena
Did not play.


Mark Noble
Did not play.


Manuel Lanzini
Did not play.


Ademipo Odubeko




Match Facts

West Ham United: Darren Randolph, Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell, Issa Diop, Craig Dawson, Ben Johnson, Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek, Pablo Fornals, Jesse Lingard, Michail Antonio.

Goals: Michail Antonio 43                  .

Booked: Ben Johnson 28          .

Sent off: None.

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Stones, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, G?ndogan (Rodri 89), Mahrez, Ag?ero (Jesus 61), Torres (Foden 65).

Subs not used: Steffen, Laporte, Mendy, Cancelo, Silva, Sterling.

Goals: Dias (30), Stones (68).

Booked: Fernandinho (90+3).

Sent off: None.

Referee: Michael Oliver.

Attendance: 0.

Man of the Match: Pablo Fornals.