Hammers outscore City on xG
How many times do you see City beaten on xG? Not often, but this was one such rare occasion. Under David Moyes, West Ham aren’t really what you’d call an attacking side, but this shows that they defended pretty well and created more clear cut chances than Pep Guardiola’s side.
As Pep himself said after the match, they realised after 10-15 minutes that today “wasn’t the day to paint something beautiful” and was simply one “to take three points”
Both City goals scored by defenders: A moment of genius from the returning Kevin de Bruyne, who had been off-colour till then, saw City take the lead through Ruben Dias- the Portuguese’s first in the league for City. Interestingly, both Dias and central defensive partner John Stones were in the box well after the original corner in the buildup to the goal had been taken!
Stones scored the second after the interval. Not often that you see two defenders scoring in a team blessed with attacking talent as City are, but this was one such occasion.
Hammers could’ve done better on the break: There were several occasions, mainly in the second half, where West Ham had good chances on the break, but simply didn’t capitalise- the 62nd, 64th, 76th and 83rd minutes to name a few. When you want to beat City, you have to be 100% on your game, but the Hammers were not.
Ederson concedes first open play goal at home after nearly 1000 minutes: West Ham’s equaliser was a nice one- nicking the ball of City in their own half, and then slicing them open with a few nice passes, with Coufal and Fornals both instrumental. The move was well finished by Antonio and this was the first home goal Ederson had conceded since Maddison scored for Leicester!
Mixed bag for Ben Johnson: Brought into the lineup as the Hammers effectively reverted to five at the back, Johnson had a mixed game. He wasn’t too bad defensively, but offensively, several promising moves, especially in the first half, broke down with him on the left flank.
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