Key events
62 min: West Ham are visibly growing in confidence with each passing minute, a spectacle one suspects Pep Guardiola won’t be enjoying one bit. On a day when tickets for the Oasis reunino tour went on sale, will one of their celebrity fans be left looking back in anger on this game? Play pauses when Doku goes to ground again, this time felled by Max Kilman, whose challenge earns him a booking.
61 min: Emerson is booked for tripping Jeremy Doku as the City winger attempted to jink inside him near the halfway line.
59 min: Bowen takes on and beats Gvardiol as he cuts in from the right before playing the ball to the feet of Antonio at the near post. With Akanji all over him, the striker wins a corner for his team. It’s taken and the ball is cleared as far as Guido Rodriguez, whose low shot from distance fizzes well wide of the left upright.
57 min: Jarrod Bowen sends a diagonal cross towards the far post that’s just a little too high for Kudus to reach. This is impressive from a West Ham side who looked completely beaten and resigned to their fate as recently as five minutes ago.
55 min: City slow the game down having survived that scare but Jarrod Bowen pounces on a poor touch from Gvardiol to drag his side upfield again.
52 min: Wow! West Ham break upfield at the speed of light after Paqueta had cleared a Gvardiol ball into the six yard box. After receiving a pass from Kudus, Bowen gallops up the inside right with the ball at his feet before playing the return pass to the Ghanaian. Kudus has to stretch to bring it under control but finally unleashes a venmous shot that smashes off the left upright. That was so close to an equaliser.
50 min: City continue to hog the ball, passing and probing patiently on the edge of the final third under little or no pressure from West Ham’s players.
49 min: Jack Grealish wins a corner for City. Kevin De Bruyne’s delivery bounces neart the edge of the six-yard box, catching Bernardo Silva unawares. He gets his head to the rising ball but sends it over the bar.
48 min: Ederson pings an inch-perfect pass on to the chest of Lewis out by the right touchline and City move the ball forward again. An attempted Akanji delivery into the West Ham penalty area is blocked by Lucas Paqueta.
46 min: Yup, seconds after kick-off, Rico Lewis steals the ball from Mohammed Kudus out by the touchline near the halfway line.
Second half: West Ham 1-2 Man City
46 min: Play resumes with West Ham on the ball. On the evidence of their first half performance, one suspects they won’t keep it for long.
They are very, very lucky to be only one goal in arrears and have changed their goalkeeper. Lukasz Fabianski is on for Areola, who must have picked up an injury in the first half.
West Ham 1-2 Manchester City
Half-time: West Ham started brightly and had Manchester City under the cosh for all of three minutes before their visitors started bending control of the game to their collective will.
A mistake from Lucas Paqueta allowed Erling Haaland to open the scoring for City, only for their lead to be cancelled out by an unfortunate and completely unnecessary Ruben Dias own goal. It was one-way traffic after that, with City spurning several good chances before Erling Haaland bagged his second to restore his side’s lead.
City lead by the odd goal in three but should be much further ahead. Some of their meticulously choreographed build-up play has been breathtaking, even if their almost total dominance has been a little dull.
45+2 min: West Ham show more signs of life but a Jarrod Bowen seven-iron from deep towards the City penalty area is headed clear by Dias. That’s it for the first half.
45+1 min: West Ham attack, with Kudus running on to a crossfield diagonal. He cuts inside, running at a backpedalling Rico Lewis before shooting across the face of goal and several yards wide of the far post.
45 min: City win a free-kick just outside the penalty area, a little to the right of the D. Kevin De Bruyne takes it and skims his effort over the bar and on to the roof of the net.
43 min: A Jeremy Doku pull-back is cut out by Emerson as City go on the attack again. Kevin De Bruyne is booked for an injudicious lunge on Michail Antonio after trying to recover a ball he’d just gifted to the West Ham striker with a poor first touch.
41 min: City corner. Kevin De Bruyne raises both arms and sends the ball towards the penalty spot, where Ruben Dias nods it goalwards with a scuffed downward header. It’s hacked clear by a defender.
40 min: “If this were a Battle of the Bands, I’d take Iron Maiden over Oasis any day of the week, even if the Irons are all in their 60s,” writes Joe Pearson. “I mean, Heavy Metal conquers lame Britpop, right? Sadly, it’s a football match, and City are the real Trooper here.”
37 min: Manchester City continue to pile on the pain, hogging the ball and leaving the West Ham’s players to chase shadows. Haaland spots a run from Lewis and threads the ball into his path but the young full-back fires over the bar. It’s not so much men against boys as men against training cones.
35 min: De Bruyne plays the ball wide to Grealish, who plays it back inside and then darts forward to receive the return pass. Mavropanos and Wan-bissaka dive in to intercept and one of them concedes a corner. West Ham clear and break upfield with Michail Antonio on the ball.
32 min: West Ham’s bold strategy of not running, pressing or marking certainly didn’t pay off there. Haaland was given all the time in the world and the freedom of the London Stadium to pick his spot and fire an absolute thunderbolt past Areola. He’s on course for back-to-back hat-tricks and West Ham’s particularly dismal record against City-under-Pep looks set to continue.
GOAL! West Ham 1-2 Man City (Haaland 30)
City lead again! With Manchester City pin ging the ball around the edge of the City penalty area, Rico Lewis rolls it into the path of Erling Halland. He steps inside Emerson and spanks an unstoppable shot past Areola. That’s his 69th goal in 69 Premier League appearances.
28 min: “No running, pressing, marking, or quality on the ball,” writes Niall Mullen, channeling his inner Pepper Brooks. “You have to say that it’s a bold strategy from West Ham. Let’s see if it pays off.”
26 min: Jeremy Doku exchanges passes with Kevin De Bruyne and tries to dart for the byline but is foiled by Emerson, who slides in to put the ball out for a throw-in deep in West Ham territory.
25 min: Josko Gvardiol gets on the end of an outswinging Kevin De Bruyne corner but directs his header straight into the arms of Areola from distance.
23 min: Getting richer by the second as millions of Oasis fans eff and jeff at their computers and phones while trying to buy overpriced tickets for his band’s reunion tour online, Noel Gallagher sits impassively in the stand watching a fun game.
22 min: There was no need for Dias to try to clear that ball as Bowen didn’t have any players up in support. City’s Portuguese defender clearly wasn’t aware of the non-threat behind him, hence his ill-advised lunge.
GOAL! West Ham 1-1 Man City (Dias 19og)
West Ham equalise: Jarrod Bowen advances upfield and speculatively squares the ball across the face of the Man City goal. Attempting to clear the danger, Ruben Dias steers it past his Ederson and into his own net. It’s an extremely lucky break for West Ham but they’ll take it.
18 min: The champions go close to doubling their lead with the most textbook City goal imaginable. Jeremy Doku pulls the ball back to Kevin De Bruyne, who fires against the upright. Clang!
16 min: Going back to the goal – Paqueta dawdled after receiving a pass from Emerson and allowed Bernardo Silva to rob him of possession. The Spaniard played Haaland in behind and showing Max Kilman a clean pair of heels, he swept the ball past Areola.
13 min: Kevin De Bruyne exchanges passes with Grealish at a corner and tries to whip the ball inside the near post. Areola keeps it out with a strong arm. City are running amok.
13 min: Mavropanos is crowded off the ball in midfield and De Bruyne advances before playing Jack Grealish in behind. He cuts inside before shooting narrowly wide.
GOAL! West Ham 0-1 Man City (Haaland 11)
City lead! Bernardo Silva pounces on a mistake by Lucas Paqueta, slides the ball into the path of Erling Haaland and the Manchester City striker advances a few paces before slotting the ball past Alphonse Areola.
10 min: Having started brightly, West Ham are now firmly under the cosh and have a corner to defend. Kevin De Bruyne’s deep delivery to the far post is too near the byline for Gvardiol to do any damage.
8 min: Grealish gets involved again, chersting down a pass from deep and moving the ball inside to Kevin De Bruyne. His cross to Jeremy Doku is wayward and Dinos Mavropanos heads clear for the Hammers.
6 min: Jack Grealish plays another ball to the byline, on this occasion picking out a run from Bernardo Silva. He stands the ball up for Erling Haaland at the far post and the big Norwegian heads over. He was completely unmarked and you’d expect him to score from there.
5 min: Jack Grealish gets on the ball, cuts inside and plays an angled pass towards Kevin De Bruyne on the byline. His low cross is cleared by Max Kilman.
4 min: It’s been all West Ham in these opening minutes. Julen Lopetegui’s side have started very aggressively.
3 min: Jarrod Bowen tries a curling shot that swerves quite viciously on its way towards Ederson, who punches it clear.
1 min: It’s a bright start for West Ham, who go close courtesy of a deflected cross. Mohammed Kudus cuts in from the left and his cross loops up in the air off Rico Lewis. The ball drops for Michail Antonio but he’s prevented from getting to the ball by Josko Gvardiol, who gives him a little shove.
West Ham v Manchester City is go …
1 min: Following a minute’s applause for the former ENgland manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who passed away earlier this week, Kevin De Bruyne gets the ball rolling for Manchester City. Their players wear yellow and black striped shirts, black shorts and yellow socks. West Ham’s players wear their usual home kit.
Not long now: Led by match referee Michael Oliver and his team of match officials, the teams make the journey from the tunnel to the pitch at the London Stadium and line up for the last of the pre-match niceties.
A few moments ago, Carlos Soler, West Ham’s deadline day loan signing from Paris Saint-Germain, was introduced to the fans.
Pep Guardiola: In a short pre-match chat with Sky Sports, the Manchester City manager reveals that Savinho is not in the squad because he has a problem with his knee. He expects him to be back just after the internatinoal break.
Today’s match officials
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Referee: Michael Oliver
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Assistants: Stuart Burt and Dan Cook.
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Fourth official: James Bell.
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VAR: Darren England.
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Assistant VAR: Simon Bennett.
Those teams: Aaron Wan-Bissaka makes his first Premier League start for West Ham, in one of two changes Julen Lopetegui makes from last weekend’s win at Crystal Palace. Edson Alvarez is also in, while Vladimir Coufal and Thomas Soucek drop to the bench.
Jack Grealish starts for Manchester City, with no place in the matchday squad for Savinho. Mateo Kovacic has been passed fit to start, while Rodri and Ilkay Gundogan are on the bench.
West Ham v Manchester City line-ups
West Ham: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson, Alvarez, Paqueta, Rodriguez, Kudus, Antonio, Bowen.
Subs: Fabianski, Casey, Coufal, Todibo, Soucek, Irving, Summerville, Guilherme, Fullkrug.
Manchester City: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Kovacic, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Doku, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Walker, Stones, Ake, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Nunes, O’Reilly, McAtee.
Early West Ham team news
Left-back Aaron Cresswell misses out after suffering a hamstring injury in the warm-up before his side’s midweek Carabao Cup win over Bournemouth, while Edson Alvarez made his first appearance for the Hammers in that game after recovering from a hamstring injury of his own.
“He showed big energy but it’s true that he’s going to need time to adapt and recover his best fitness for sure, because he’s an important player for us, and he’s going to do that step by step,” said Julen Lopetegui of the Mexican midfielder.
Early Manchester City team news
Manchester City winger Oscar Bobb remains out with a fractured bone in his leg, while Phil Foden is likely to sit out his second game in a row through illness. “He doesn’t feel good,” said Pep Guardiola yesterday.
Rodri has yet to appear for City this season but has recovered from the hamstring injury that forced him at half-time in the Euro 2024 final, while Mateo Kovacic is due to undergo a late fitness test after picking up a knock in training.
Premier League: West Ham v Manchester City
The London Stadium is the venue for this evening’s top flight match between West Ham and the reigning champions, who have not lost any of their past 19 meetings against today’s opposition in an unbeaten run that dates back to September 2015.
What’s more, during Pep Guardiola’s reign at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City have won 15 and drawn three of the 18 games in which they have faced West Ham.
More optimistic Hammers fans will legitimately argue it’s a run that has to end sometime but on the evidence of their opening two victories of this Premier League season, the champions will take some beating.
Kick-off in Stratford is at 5.30pm but we’ll have plenty of team news and build-up in the meantime.
