Manchester City asserted their dominance as they cruised past West Ham at the London Stadium. Looking to retain their Premier League title, a brace from new man Erling Haaland set them on their journey.
The Norwegian was fouled by substitute keeper Alphonse Areola and was rewarded a penalty kick, which he took and gave City the lead after 36 minutes. He then doubled the lead later on with a beautiful finish one-on-one after being played through West Ham's weak defence.
West Ham didn't quite give their record attending 62,500 fans something to cheer for. The nearest they came was a header by Gianluca Scamacca, who is the Hammers' 3rd highest transfer arrival, was saved in excellent fashion by Ederson albeit the offside flag was raised.
Manchester City still looked as strong as ever, despite selling some key players on such as Raheem Sterling to Chelsea, and both Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko departing for Arsenal for an accumulative £75 million.
Although the London Stadium was greeted by Maxwel Cornet & Nayef Aguerd, both were unavailable to play as Aguerd picked up an injury in a pre-season friendly and Cornet was not registered in time. Central midfielder Flynn Downes, signed from Swansea City to replace West Ham great Mark Noble, made it as far as the bench and had a ten minute cameo.
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Story of the game
Pep Guardiola made two changes from the side that lost 3-1 to Liverpool in the Community Shield. It seemed to add more balance but still full strength with Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden replacing Bernardo Silva & Riyad Mahrez respectively. It meant that it was a first Premier League start for Haaland, who signed from Borussia Dortmund this summer.
West Ham were without Angelo Ogbonna, Craig Dawson, Issa Diop or new signing Nayef Aguerd, forcing Ben Johnson to play out of position in the vacant centre-back role. David Moyes opted for Manuel Lanzini, with Said Benrahma on the bench and Maxwell Cornet unavailable.
The Hammers started on the front foot, pressing well and creating some good opportunities, testing Ederson early. With £60million summer signing Scamacca only fit enough to make the bench, Michail Antonio was given the task of battling it out against Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake, in which he succeeded for the first 20 minutes.
However, Lukasz Fabianski's brave punch resulted in him picking up an injury. Although he soldiered on, Kevin De Bruyne penetrated through West Ham's defence way too easily and his tap-in was luckily flagged offside. Fabianski was replaced by Alphonse Areola, who spent last season with the Hammers on loan but recently penned a permanent deal. He didn't get off to the best of starts in his 2nd season in East London, bringing down Haaland inside the penalty area.
The Norwegian was cool and collected, slotting the ball into the top right corner with conviction. From then on, Manchester City were dominant, with an astonishing 85% possession compared to West Ham's 15. David Moyes' side couldn't get a touch of the ball, frustrating the fans as they headed into the half-time interval.
Things improved as West Ham saw more of the ball and started to spread the ball out wide, getting Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen involved more. The addition of Said Benrahma and Scamacca excited the fans as more chances were being created. Declan Rice had the first chance to make it even, but his first-time finish was blazed over.
A lapse of concentration and City were back on the counter, with De Bruyne's exquisite ball playing through Haaland again who was one-on-one with Areola again. This time Areola stood firmly between the sticks but the 6"5 striker kept his composure and picked his spot to make it two in front of the travelling fans.
Despite the setback, the Hammers continued to try and find a way to reduce the deficit with the new Italian man Scamacca coming closest as his header forced a great save out of Ederson, but was found to be in an offside position initially.
Haaland was substituted on a hattrick to the confusion of fans, and he later stated that it was "a bit sh*t, but that's how it is" in his post-match interview. In his place was Julian Alvarez for his first Premier League minutes, after signing from River Plate at the start of 2022, but was loaned back to the Argentinian side.
It's a perfect start for the blue side of Manchester, as their neighbours fell to defeat at home to Brighton, while Liverpool dropped points to newly-promoted Fulham at Craven Cottage.
West Ham will look to put the result behind them as they face an easier run of matches before they face rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the month.
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Player of the Match: Erling Haaland
It's no doubt that the Norwegian star is the player of the match. Having faced some criticism after missing a gaping chance against Liverpool last Saturday, he certainly proved the critics wrong with two goals to start his 2022/23 campaign.
It wasn't only his composed finishing, but the runs behind the defence that not only caught the eyes of his own manager, but annoyed David Moyes who was frustrated in his post-match interview.