November 28, (THEWILL) –Â Manchester City defeated West Ham 2-1 on Sunday afternoon with Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho finding the back of the net to ease the hosts to victory at the Etihad and take them to a joint-lead at the top of the table.
Although heavy snow made for difficult playing conditions, Pep Guardiola’s team always appeared to be the favourites to win.
After 17 minutes, Riyad Mahrez thought he had broken the deadlock, but his delight was short-lived due to a correct offside call. However, a quarter of an hour later, the Algerian had reason to rejoice as his low cross was tapped in by a thankful Gundogan to put the hosts ahead.
Gabriel Jesus had two attempts cleared off the line by both West Ham full-backs either side of a long and snowy half-time, but late substitute Fernandinho doubled his side’s lead as David Moyes’ side increased their intensity.
In the 90th minute, the Brazilian ensured the outcome by deftly finishing Jesus’ pull back, before Manuel Lanzini scored a stunning late goal to give West Ham fans something to cheer about seconds before the final whistle.
With the win, City climbed back into second place in the Premier League, level on points with Chelsea, who are against Manchester United in the Sunday evening kickoff. The next match for City is a midweek trip to Aston Villa.
West Ham have now lost back-to-back games in the EPL, but they are still in fourth place. The next opponent is Brighton & Hove Albion.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
