City try to walk the ball into the back of the net as Foden plays a cute ball towards Gundogan in the box, and the midfielder takes one touch before his shot is deflected off Diop and out for another home corner.
90'
There will be four minutes of added time to be played.
88'
Fredericks makes an excellent sliding tackle to deny Foden in the box and City gain a corner as a result. De Bruyne plays the set-piece short to Sterling, whose delivery is intercepted and cleared only for the hosts to regain possession in the Hammers’ half once again.
87'
M. Antonio gets yellow.
Antonio is called over by referee Attwell for a bad foul on Danilo, resulting in the winger becoming the second player to get in the official’s book.
85'
P. Foden enters the game and replaces S. Agüero.
Goalscorer Aguero trudges off the pitch to be replaced by the highly-touted youngster Foden in Guardiola’s final substitution of the match.
83'
Fredericks gets on the end of Diangana’s throughball and tries a cross which is poorly hit and goes out of play for a City goal kick. From an attacking perspective, West Ham have offered absolutely little-to-no threat whatsoever since kick-off.
82'
De Bruyne, who hasn’t been without a few chances throughout the match, attempts a low drive at goal that Fabianski catches with little difficulty.
76'
G. Diangana enters the game and replaces Felipe Anderson.
Felipe Anderson comes off for Diangana in Pellegrini's final change of the game.
73'
De Bruyne is given the freedom of the Etihad to run at the Hammers goal unchallenged, and eventually plays in Bernardo Silva whose shot is deflected off Ogbonna and goes out for another City corner. The set-piece is headed away by Carroll, but it goes back to Sane whose cross is cut out and cleared away.
Minute
Description
67'
Aguero tries to chip Fabianski while the keeper strayed off his line, but the Argentina striker is flagged for offside.
63'
P. Zabaleta enters the game and replaces B. Johnson.
Johnson, who had marshalled Mahrez for the majority of his impressive senior debut, comes off to be replaced by ex-City fan favourite Zabaleta who basks in the applause upon his return to the Etihad.
61'
Fredericks makes a vital interception after cutting out De Bruyne’s searching ball which would’ve undoubtedly reached Sterling if it wasn’t for the Hammers’ right-back’s outstretched leg!
59'
Penalty goal scored by S. Agüero for Manchester City!
GOOOAAAALLLL!!! CITY FINALLY BREAK THE DEADLOCK!! Aguero sends Fabianski the wrong way as he coolly slots his penalty in the bottom left corner of the net! 1-0 to City, and the home faithful can finally breathe a collective sigh of relief!
57'
Bernardo Silva enters the game and replaces L. Sané.
Sane, who has also performed below his own lofty standards, is hooked off for Bernardo Silva as Guardiola aims to add more pep to his side.
55'
R. Sterling enters the game and replaces R. Mahrez.
The wayward Mahrez comes off for Sterling in Guardiola's first change of the match.
54'
Sane is spared some blushes after failing to control Danilo’s precise dinked ball over the box as he is flagged for offside.
47'
Gundogan finds Mahrez out on the wing and the ex-Leicester man beats Fredericks before floating in a cross that is headed away with authority by Ogbonna. Similar to the beginning of the first half, West Ham find themselves camped in their own half to open the second.
46'
M. Lanzini enters the game and replaces S. Nasri.
Nasri, who had been a virtual passenger throughout the first half, makes way for Lanzini in Pellegrini’s first change of the match at half-time.
City get play restarted as the second half gets underway!
45' +1
HALF-TIME: MANCHESTER CITY 0-0 WEST HAM
45'
There will be one minute of added time to be played.
44'
Mahrez fails to get on De Bruyne’s wavelength as the latter watches another one of his passes fail to reach the former.
41'
R. Fredericks gets yellow.
Fredericks becomes the first player booked after trying to take down Sane from behind a few seconds before Attwell blew his whistle. If the City winger had gone down following the Hammers full-back’s reckless challenge instead of continuing his run, it could’ve been a worse outcome for the defender as the intent to scythe him down was clearly there.
39'
The City faithful groan again as another David Silva delivery fails to reach any of his teammates in the West Ham penalty area. It’s surprisingly still 0-0 at the Etihad.
37'
Diop intercepts and slides the ball away before David Silva can reach it, but it only goes as far out to Zinchenko whose whipped delivery is too high and quick for any City player in the box to reach it.
32'
De Bruyne’s low corner finds the onrushing Otamendi, but his header is way off the mark. Goal kick to West Ham.
30'
Fabianski stands his ground and easily catches Mahrez’s curling effort after another wave of City attacks. The tempo has slowed down from the hosts since their dominating start, but the score still remains goalless after half an hour.
26'
Aguero appeals for the handball after getting on the end of David Silva’s cut-back and watching his effort get deflected away by a stray Ogbonna arm, but Attwell has none of it and gives City a corner instead! Subsequent replays show that Aguero may have had a point there!
24'
De Bruyne finds Mahrez out wide with a pin-point throughball with the winger having only Fabianski to beat, but the linesman’s flag is up and the ex-Leicester City title-winner is caught offside before he can bury the chance away.
23'
A rare attacking foray by West Ham ends with an Antonio cross towards Carroll that Kompany heads away with authority. Normal service is resumed as City are back with the ball.
22'
Danilo tries his luck with a first-time volley from around 25 yards out that is wild and high over the Hammers goal following City’s fourth corner of the game.
18'
Aguero goes close! More City play ends with another De Bruyne cross into the box that Aguero manages to get on the end of with his heel, but his tidy flick goes wide of Fabianski’s goal!
17'
Diop prevents Sane from receiving David Silva’s return pass with a picture-perfect sliding tackle in the box that also manages to clear any lingering danger away!
15'
David Silva continues to pull the strings in midfield, releasing a weighted pass towards the path of the onrushing Sane whose cross was too high for Aguero to reach. Fabianski catches the Germany winger’s delivery with ease.
13'
To the groans of the home faithful, another promising City attack ends with Gundogan tamely hitting his effort over the bar following some brilliant work by David Silva who weaved his way around a static Hammers defence!
10'
Mahrez and Aguero play a quick one-two which the former meets with a shot that Diop manages to block! The ball bounces clear only for Zinchenko to float in a cross that Fredericks manages to block for a corner which eventually gets cleared by an away defence feeling the heat right now.
6'
De Bruyne blazes another shot over the bar as City continue to keep their opponents camped inside their own half.
2'
De Bruyne lets fly from about 25 yards with a powerful drive that Fabianski watches sail wide of his right post following an early passage of play by City.
1'
Referee Stuart Attwell blows his whistle, and West Ham get us underway at the Etihad!
Both sides are decked out in their usual colours, with the hosts in their home kit in all sky-blue while the visitors are in their iconic claret-and-blue.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE coverage of this Premier League clash as Manchester City host West Ham at the Etihad Stadium!
There’s no rest for the weary as Manchester City only had three days to celebrate their EFL Cup triumph before reverting their focus back to midweek Premier League matters. However, we all know that Pep Guardiola wouldn’t have it any other way as he and his charges can scratch one trophy off in their quest for a historic quadruple, and will look to continue their recent form with another home win against their opponents today to keep up the pressure on table-topping Liverpool who are only a point above them.
In stark contrast, injury-stricken West Ham picked up their first victory since the 12th of January with a Friday night win against a struggling Fulham that eased any further pressure on Manuel Pellegrini as he and his Hammers look to cement their place in the upper tier of the table. However, the ex-City manager couldn’t have asked for a tougher venue to back up their win last weekend as their hosts are in fine form at a vital time of the season.
MANCHESTER CITY (4-3-3): Ederson; Danilo, Vincent Kompany (c), Nicolas Otamendi, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, David Silva; Riyad Mahrez, Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane.
And without further ado, let’s take a look at how both sides line up, starting with the hosts.
SUBSTITUTES: Adrian, Pablo Zabaleta, Grady Diangana, Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble, Robert Snodgrass, Chicharito.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Lukasz Fabianski; Ryan Fredericks, Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna, Ben Johnson; Pedro Obiang, Declan Rice; Michail Antonio, Samir Nasri, Felipe Anderson; Andy Carroll (c).
SUBSTITUTES: Arijanet Muric, Benjamin Mendy, Philippe Sandler, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling.
The players are out and kick-off is drawing near.
With Liverpool currently 2-0 up against Watford, Guardiola will know that he needs a win in order to keep pace with their fellow title contenders so expect the home side to go for the jugular as soon as Attwell blows his whistle to start the second half. As for Pellegrini and his Hammers, it would be asking a lot for them to maintain their determined defensive performance but if anyone would know of any weaknesses in their hosts’ armour, it’s the ex-City title winner.
And that wraps up our coverage. We hope you enjoyed our commentary, and until next time, goodbye!
Both sides return to action on Saturday, with Guardiola’s City aiming to win a fifth league match on the trot at the Vitality Stadium against Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth while Pellegrini’s Hammers return to London and host Rafa Benitez’s in-form Newcastle.
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