By Goal.com News on Saturday, 27 February 2021
Category: Goal.com News

LIVE: Manchester City vs West Ham

It's all square at the break in the Premier League clash between Manchester City and West Ham United. Ruben Dias put City ahead with a close-range header from Kevin De Bruyne's precise cross, but the Hammers battled back before the interval as Michail Antonio stabbed home from two yards.

45' + 1' HALF-TIME: MANCHESTER CITY 1-1 WEST HAM UNITED

45' There will be one minute of added time.

41' No player has more Premier League assists this season than Kevin De Bruyne (11 - level with Harry Kane).

40' SAVE! West Ham continue to probe as space opens up for Lingard to drive at goal, but he sees his effort saved with ease by Ederson.

39' OFF THE POST! Antonio is inches away from an equaliser. Lingard collects down the right flank and fires a low ball into the middle. Fornals misses his kick, but it travels to Antonio. He takes a touch before connecting with a half-volley that clips the outside of the left post and travels wide.

37' City spread the ball across to the right flank where Mahrez feeds Walker in space, but Johnson does well to block his cross.

35' Dias has scored his first goal for Man City on his 32nd appearance in all competitions, scoring with his side's first shot of the game.

34' Gundogan looks for a quick pass behind for Aguero, but the German just overhits his offload into the hands of Randolph.

32' Randolph has to scamper off his line to clear Walker's long ball over the top away from Mahrez and into touch.

29' West Ham clear the free-kick from De Bruyne as far as Zinchenko on the edge of the box. He floats a delivery back into the middle that Cresswell has to head clear amid the presence of Gundogan.

26' Despite over 30% of the match being played in West Ham's third of the pitch, Man city are yet to have a shot at goal.

25' Aguero and De Bruyne both take possession on the edge of the West Ham box, but neither player can pull the trigger on efforts at goal amid pressure from the Hammers defence.

24' City are finding it tough to break down the visitors, who have been extremely disciplined at the back.

22' Dias charges forward from the back and wins a free-kick after being tripped by Lingard.

21' De Bruyne's passing continues to be off as he overhits a one-two with Torres out for a goal-kick.

19' BLOCK! Ederson has to be brave to block Antonio's header in the middle after Soucek nods Lingard's deflected strike into the path of the forward. Stones then has to scramble to clear the rebound.

17' De Bruyne looks for an offload inside to Aguero, but the Belgian's pass is off by a fraction and allows Diop to win possession.

16' City are dominating possession, but the Hammers are absorbing the pressure at the moment and have not given the hosts an inch.

13' De Bruyne has a surge into the box and cuts a pass back to Torres. He tries to line up a strike, but Soucek and Rice converge to deny the forward.

11' Mahrez has a run at Johnson down the right flank and clips a cross into the box. Dawson is well placed in the middle to clear the danger.

8' Aguero collects a pass into the left inside channe from Gundogan, but he gets isolated after making a neat turn.

6' Ederson offloads to Fernandino in the City box, who is immediately put under pressure by Soucek. However, the West Ham midfielder fouls the Brazilian in his bid to win the ball.

3' Diop makes an important interception at the back for the visitors, stepping in to direct De Bruyne's offload away from Gundogan.

1' We're underway at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League meetings with West Ham (W8 D2) since a 2-1 home loss in September 2015.

West Ham are without keeper Lukasz Fabianski this afternoon. The Pole misses the contest after suffering an arm injury in training yesterday. Randolph comes into the team to replace him between the posts. The only other change from the win over Spurs sees Bowen shift out of the team for Johnson. 

City have made seven changes to their side that beat Gladbach. Aguero gets his first start for the Citizens since the first meeting against the Hammers in October. De Bruyne also returns to the fold for Guardiola's men in the middle of the park alongside Fernandinho. Stones and Zinchenko get the nod in the backline, while Mahrez and Torres partner Aguero in the final third. Sterling, Rodri, Silva, Cancelo, Jesus, Laporte and Foden drop to the bench.

WEST HAM SUBS: Fabian Balbuena, Said Benrahma, Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble, Jarrod Bowen, David Martin, Nathan Trott, Ademipo Odubeko.

WEST HAM UNITED (3-4-3): Darren Randolph; Issa Diop, Craig Dawson, Aaron Cresswell; Vladimir Coufal, Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice; Ben Johnson; Pablo Fornals, Jesse Lingard, Michail Antonio.

MANCHESTER CITY SUBS: Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Zack Steffen, Aymeric Laporte, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy, Joao Cancelo, Phil Foden.

MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Kevin De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan; Riyad Mahrez, Ferran Torres, Sergio Aguero.

West Ham are not on a bad run of form themselves, losing only one of their last 11 Premier League games. David Moyes' men are sitting in the final Champions League spot and have been playing excellent football. The Hammers recorded a 2-1 win over Tottenham last week courtesy of goals from Michail Antonio and a resurgent Jesse Lingard. However, they face the ultimate challenge today.

City are on the march in all competitions, reeling off an imperious run of 19 wins in a row. Pep Guardiola's men have taken command of the Premier League title race and begin the afternoon 10 points clear of Manchester United in second. They brushed aside Borussia Monchengladbach in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash during the week. City are operating at the peak of their powers.

Good afternoon and welcome to the live commentary of the Premier League clash between Manchester City and West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium.

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