West Ham United opened their season with a tough fixture against the reigning Premier League champions, Manchester City. The Hammers were the obvious outsiders at the London stadium, with the firepower of Manchester City proving too difficult to deal with. Man City came away with all three points, thanks to two goals from new summer recruit Erling Braut Haaland.
David Moyes’ side won’t be too disheartened by defeat, they will have more important games to come through the season. However West Ham fans will be keen to get up and running when they face Nottingham Forest next weekend.
Here’s how VAVEL rated the two teams in this game.
West Ham Starting XI
Lukasz Fabianski – 6/10
The Polish goalkeeper was forced off with an injury in the first half after colliding with Haaland. After being given the nod over Alphonse Areola he was replaced by the Frenchman. In the 29 minutes that Fabianski played he looked relatively composed.
Vladimír Coufal – 5/10
Was up against the £100m man Jack Grealish, who made life very difficult for the right-back. He was in Jack Grealish’s pocket all day. Coufal will have easier matchups to come.
Ben Johnson – 4/10
Started the game as a centre-half in a position where Johnson has little experience. The youngster struggled at centre-back, was caught lacking a few times and couldn’t really compete with Haaland.
Kurt Zouma – 4/10
The Frenchman didn’t have his finest game and struggled to deal with Man City’s frontline. He switched off for the second goal and looked lazy, jogging back when Erling Haaland went clean through.
Aaron Cresswell – 4/10
Like his teammates in that defence, it was a difficult game for Aaron Cresswell. Struggled with the pace and trickery of the Man City attack. A day to forget for the West Ham backline overall.
Tomás Soucek – 4/10
Really struggled in the midfield, looked out of place which is rare to say about Soucek who had had an otherwise faultless start to his West Ham career.
Declan Rice – 5/10
Had legs in the West Ham midfield but wasn’t given the time to really dictate play. Had a decent chance at the start of the second half from the edge of the box. Should have done better.
Pablo Fornals – 4/10
Couldn’t really get involved and couldn’t create many chances. Looked very leggy and may need a couple more games to get up to full fitness.
Manuel Lanzini – 5/10
Looked the most likely of West Ham’s forward line to create something for the Hammers. But didn’t get many opportunities to get the ball and make something happen.
Jarrod Bowen – 4/10
Had a half chance in the first half that was blocked, other than that he had a quiet game and looked isolated at times.
Michail Antonio – 5/10
Looked like he may have been carrying an injury. Tried to get on the end of some of the balls. Came closest for West Ham with a header just over the bar in the first half.
Substitutions
Alphonse Areola – 4/10
Came on for the injured Fabianski and within minutes had conceded a penalty, dragging Haaland down. Not much chance for either of the goals themselves though
Gianluca Scamacca – 6/10
Made a promising start to his West Ham career. Replaced Michail Antonio in the second half and caused a few problems for the Man City defence, albeit the opposition defence remained relatively untroubled.
Saïd Benrahma – 4/10
Not a great cameo from the Algerian. Linked with a move away, his head may be elsewhere.
Flynn Downes – N/A
Not enough time to make any imprint on the game, the Swansea mifielder was brought in to replace the retired Mark Noble.
Conor Coventry – N/A
No time to showcase his talent, however seeing the story of the game he likely would have struggled.