The Champions completed a comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham at a packed-out London Stadium.

Manchester City continued the fine performances from last season with a straightforward 2-0 win over West Ham United - in what was a game of little difficulty for the champions.

Erling Haaland has quickly endeared himself to the City faithful with an assured performance picking up two goals on either side of the halftime whistle. His explosive pace and movement were a sight to see, and the future is bright for all involved.

Here are the takeaways from the defeat for David Moyes's side.

  • Defensive Solidity


West Ham set up from minute one to be hard to break down and attempt to play on the counter. This was evident by West Ham having a total of 25% possession and 4x fewer passes than the opposition.

Ben Johnson has quickly grown into a player that is seamlessly fitting into the back four of West Ham and is sure to be a major part of the team in the future. Johnson is coming off consecutive young player of the year awards, and he will quickly become a player to be watched.

David Moyes will be happy with the defensive commitment of his players, which is showcased by allowing Man City only two shots on target. Moyes will be hoping to find the right balance between defence and attack because today's game plan will not be the answer going forward against teams that are viewed as superior. After all, it will only finish one way - a comfortable win for the opposition.

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  • Striking Options

West Ham has managed to add Gianluca Scamacca to the strikeforce that consisted only of Michael Antonio - who has led the line for multiple seasons. Antonio has led the line with raw pace and power, which has caused havoc for defenders throughout the league.

However, bringing in Scamacca adds another layer to the striking options by adding in effectively a target man, who possesses the control and movement of any other striker in the league. He was brought on today when West Ham was beginning to gain a little attacking threat, which continued when he entered the field of play.

His movement and hold-up play allowed for West ham to progress further up the park. Scammaca produced a great header from a distance that pulled out a high-quality save from Ederson, Scammaca's way has been offside, but it highlights what he will bring to the club. With Scammaca and Antonio leading the line, West Ham will be able to rely on two well-proven strikers, and it should propel them to plenty of goals - and importantly, wins.

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  • Haaland's Raw Ability

Erling Haaland began his first season in the Premier League with a performance that matched the hype that surrounded him throughout pre-season. For a player of his stature, he has a devastating turn of foot that was showcased by his lovely turn and runs to win the penalty that he confidently dispatched.

Haaland was a thorn in the side of the opposition for every second he was on the park - he occupied the defenders and was able to free up space for the more intricate players to play in between the lines.

Big things are expected this season with a huge reputation for scoring goals throughout his already-impressive career. In scoring his two goals, he equalled the debut of Sergio Aguero when he started with Man City, which will only raise the expectation that he is the man to finally fill the void that Aguero has left.

Pep Guardiola has been on the lookout for an out-and-out striker ever since Aguero began to slow down and struggle for game time. He earmarked Haaland's early doors and secured his man on a deal rumoured to be £51 million, which has been hailed as the bargain of the century.

It isn't clear yet if he has found his new star man, but today's performance certainly backed up the hype behind the Norwegian talisman.

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  • New-look gameplan


Man City played an all-out possession game, and was utilizing a slightly different game plan than usual, which surprised a lot of people.

City was allowing Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo to leave their full-back positions and take up central positions to create an overload within the middle of the park that acted as a catalyst for most of their best-attacking moves.

This tweak allowed Man City to set up while in attack in a slight variation of the usual 3-4-3, with the middle four players all playing centrally, which allowed the width to come from the wingers, who continued to stay high and wide to occupy the West Ham fullbacks.

With Man City crowding the central areas, with effectively four central midfielders, it was an effective method of allowing them to play between the lines and create passing lanes that West Ham were unable to compete with.

If Man City continue to run with this tactic, it will constantly allow them to ensure they can overrun the opposition. Analysts from future opponents will be frantically attempting to discover a solution that will counter this impressive game plan.

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