WEST HAM UNITED................... 1
MANCHESTER CITY.................. 1
Since Season 2 West Ham and Manchester City have been two of the most consistent teams in the league recently with both teams finishing in the top 8 each season except for Season 3 when West Ham finished in a lowly 16th.
City have always been there or thereabouts but they have always fell short when it came to winning a title. To make things worse, near neighbours and deadly rivals Manchester United picked up their third title last season and the United fans are not slow to rub it in.
Manchester City have some fantastic talent in their squad and this season the have added goalkeeper Steve Mandanda plus Givanildo Hulk who is due to arrive at the club on Monday, and let's not forget Alexandre Lacazette, who arrived near the end of last season. City have the players to win the league but do they have the courage, the character and the bottle to do it. This season they started with an encouraging four straight wins before a hiccup seen them lose at home to Aston Villa which led to the questions being asked once again about their ability to win the league.
West Ham United have punched above their weight for quite a while now. They are a team that can't boast any superstars but they can boast a strong group of players that play for each other and always as a team. Striker Andy Carroll is often dismissed as a nearly player. A player that hasn't lived up to the hype he once had but he has found the net plenty of times and this season already has 2 goals in the 3 games he has played. At the back they are quite solid and don't give up goals easily. Players like Maxi Pereira and Federico Fazio have played their heart out while utility man Gary Medel is the type of player almost every club need in their side. West Ham are unbeaten coming into this match with three wins and two draws.
The venue is Upton Park or the Boleyn Ground as some prefer to call it. Manchester City are top with 12 points and West Ham are second with 11 points. Whoever wins this one will be top come the end of the night. Just over 33,000 fans are in the stadium with just under 3,000 Manchester City fans housed in the lower tier of the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand. The teams are preparing to come out and the team sheets have already been handed out in the press box.
West Ham's Hungarian boss Attila Olah has decided to go 4-3-3 with the two full backs having the licence to attack down the wings while City boss Simo prefers the 3-5-2 with no frills.
Line ups:
WEST HAM UNITED: Ospina; Pereira, Botia, Moreno, Siqueira; Fazio, Medel, Van Ginkel; Ibarbo, Carroll, Sau
MANCHESTER CITY: Mandanda; Danilo, Kompany, Clichy; Hazard, Nasri, Oscar, Di Maria, Silva; Cavani, Aguero
The teams come out and the crowd welcome them with a roar of anticipation. There is no doubt that the West Ham fans can create an intimidating atmosphere and with the addition of the chance to go top of the league there seems to be an extra edge to their excitement. It was City to kick off as Aguero and Cavani stood round the ball and off we went as the decibels rose once more. City started with a bit of possession football passing it around without going forward with West Ham happy to let them have the ball. There seemed a bit of a swagger in the City players as they seemed to be issuing a come and get to the Hammers. There was a roar as Oscar played forward a loose ball that Medel picked up and West Ham at last had he ball. A move forward got nowhere as City stood firm and Van Ginkel ended playing the ball backwards to Fazio. An attempted long ball out wide to Sau was intercepted by Danilo who quickly laid it to Kompany. Both sides were probing, looking for a weakness in their opponent's defence to no avail. We had already played 15 minutes but had not had one piece of goalmouth action. The crowd were a bit more subdued with not having much to shout about. There hadn't even been a meaty tackle that could have got the crowd het up as both sides continued to look for a way to get in behind the defence. Halfway through the first half and the game was actually quite dire with passes starting to go astray and nothing that could be considered a promising move and you could here a few whistles and groans from a disapproving crowd. The game badly needed a spark and that spark arrived on 25 minutes. Danilo had the ball on the right side of his box but as he moved forward, Sau robbed him and tried to launch an attack only for Danilo to stop him with a crude looking tackle. The whistle blew for the foul as everyone anticipated the first yellow card of the game but amazingly the referee kept his card in his pocket with not so much as a hard stare in Danilo's direction. That decision attracted a number of boos and whistles from the crowd and it was quite understandable as to why. The free kick was in a good position for the Hammers and they had a number of players including Botia and Moreno moving into the box. Van Ginkel was the man to take the kick and he swung it into the crowded area and found Carroll at the front angle of the six yard box. Carroll sent what can only be described as a looping header that went over the outstretched hand of Mandanda and into the far corner of the net. The stadium erupted as Carroll ran to the sideline to celebrate followed by his team mates. After a turgid first 25 minutes West Ham were in front and the stadium was rocking.
Carroll opens the scoring for West Ham
It took a while to get the West Ham players back into their own half so the match could be restarted. It was a blow to City but the game badly needed the goal and now we might get some life into the game. City started trying to come forward but the Hammers defence were not relaxing for a minute. On 29 minutes Hazard was fed the ball and as he cut inside looking to lay the ball off, Fazio came in with a crunching tackle that the referee was quick to blow for the foul. As Fazio put his hands up and turned to run back the ref blew his whistle again motioning Fazio to come to heel. As Fazio walked towards him the yellow card was flashed in his direction, a card that was treated with angry shouts from the crowd who had seen Danilo get off with a similar tackle just a few minutes before. Nasri took the kick but it was poor and it was easily cleared as West Ham tried to mount an attack. Again nothing came of it as it seemed the goal wasn't giving the players the spark we had hoped for. Another passage of midfield play came and went with the home side happy to hold on to their one goal lead. On 40 minutes City came forward for another crack at the Hammers defence. Nasri played the ball to Cavani who was just a couple of yards outside the box. He quickly passed the ball out to Hazard, being marshalled by Siqueira, on the angle of the West Ham area. With a drop of the shoulder, Hazard turned Siqueira inside out and took one stride into the penalty area before firing a low shot that zipped past Ospina and into the net. A superb bit of play from Hazard that brought the City equaliser. The near 3,000 City fans went wild as Hazard was hugged by the City players while boss Simo had leapt off his bench and clapped towards Hazard for that sublime piece of skill. West Ham restarted the match, obviously disappointed to lose a goal close to half time. The play looked to have that extra bit of pace about it and at last we had a match on our hands. Just before half time Ibarbo, about five yards inside the City half, played the ball inside to Fazio. The Argentinian then played a first time pass towards Carroll near the edge of the box. The striker took one pace to the right before firing in a rocket of a shot towards the top corner but Mandanda got across to palm the ball away for a corner. A great effort from Carroll and an equally good save by the City keeper. The corner was headed clear by Kompany and the referee blew for half time. The two sides headed for the tunnel with the crowd unsure whether to applaud or just stay quiet. A poor first half that still managed to provide two well taken goals.
HALF TIME: WEST HAM UNITED 1 MANCHESTER CITY 1
The two sides emerged from the tunnel and it looked as though both managers were content as to how the game was panning out with neither making any changes to the personnel. Both sides lined up the same way as they had for the first and Carroll and Ibarbo got us underway again. West Ham weren't hanging about and came straight on the attack. Sau made his way towards the byeline but Danilo stepped across and the ball went out for a corner although Danilo clearly disagreed with that decision. Van Ginkel took the corner and sent one towards Carroll at the back post. The tall striker outjumped the defence to head the ball towards goal but Mandanda got across to save well.
The game became end to end after half time
Next it was City's turn to come forward as the game started to, at last, look like a top of the table clash. Aguero collected the ball about 25 yards from goal and spotted Hazard, who had once again made a run beyond the strikers. He rolled the ball towards Hazard, who managed to somehow wriggle between two defenders before firing a low shot that once again beat Ospina except this time it went wide. Hazard was causing plenty of problems in the Hammers defence and was City's biggest danger. A couple of more end to end attacks failed to produce any shots on goal but West Ham then came close on 57 minutes. West Ham had the ball in midfield with Medel. The Chilean managed to hold the ball up before playing the ball forward into the path of Ibarbo. The wide man took the ball on, surely surprised at the amount of room afforded by the City defence, before sending a low shot to Mandanda's right hand post forcing the keeper to dive low and tip the ball away for a corner. Incredibly the ref gave a goal kick, obviously thinking the keeper never got the touch, that brought a mouthful of abuse from West Ham winger Sau. The Italian should know you won't get away with that and was maybe fortunate that the card was only yellow, even if he did have a point. After 15 minutes of the second half that produced more action than the whole first half, the game developed a lull with both teams dropping the pace. The next chance didn't arrive until 70 minutes when Carroll went wide with the ball before sending a ball into the middle of the box where Medel had ventured forward. The playmaking midfielder hit it first time but he snapped at the shot and the ball flew over the crossbar. City weren't sitting back and they fashioned a chance on 75 minutes with Nasri picking up the ball in midfield. He held on to it as Aguero made a run in behind the defence. With perfect timing, Nasri split the defence with an inch perfect pass finding Aguero, who timed his run to stay onside. Aguero was, all of a sudden, through on the keeper and as Ospina advanced he placed his shot under the diving keeper but the ball went agonisingly just wide of the post. It was the best chance of the half and Aguero was annoyed that he didn't do better. The way City cut the defence open seemed to give them a lift and two minutes later Danilo started an attack by progressing down the right side before playing a diagonal pass into Di Maria. The Argentine midfield master then had a quick look round before deciding to release a shot from about 30 yards that Ospina got behind but had to parry it down before collecting at the second attempt.
Kompany and Carroll scrapped for every ball
West Ham were on the back foot as City pushed for a winner. On 82 minutes Silva moved down the left before playing the ball inside to Oscar. Oscar seen Cavani in a good position and instantly played along the ground towards him. With a nice piece of skill Cavani quickly held of a defender before sending a deft flick with the outside of his boot towards goal. Fortunately for West Ham, Ospina seen it early and managed to get down to save with both hands, holding onto the ball as if his life depended on it. From the clearance, West Ham went on the offensive and a high ball towards Fazio just outside the angle of the box seen Kompany climb all over the midfielder and give away a free kick. Van Ginkel took the free kick and sent a curled ball in towards his favourite target, Carroll. Once again the West Ham striker got to the ball first and sent a powerful header towards goal that Mandanda somehow managed to claw away. That was West Ham's best chance of the half and how Mandanda managed to stop that ball going into the net is a mystery. It was West Ham's turn to smell blood and they came forward again with Medel allowed to carry the ball through midfield as City backed off. Medel squeezed the ball through to Carroll, who did well to make room to fire in a shot that Mandanda got his body behind to save well. City tried to respond but West Ham mopped up anything that was played forward. It didn't seem long until the referee had had enough and blew for full time. The players shook hands and started heading towards the dressing room. Olah and Simo also shook hands and both looked content with the point. The fans headed for the exits discussing how their team should have had the winner in the second half but in the end a draw was about fair.
A game that promised so much failed to live up to it's pre match expectations, especially in a horrible first half which, ironically, produced the two goals. The standard lifted in the second half and both sides had their chances to win the game. Again, ironically, it was the winners who would sit proudly at the top tonight but the game failed to produce one and it ended up that neither side topped the table.
Manchester City slipped to second in the table and after a start that seen them win their first four games, they have now picked up one point from six. It is games like these that win the league but City couldn't win it and could quite easily have lost it near the end. The question now is do they have the consistency needed to win the title? They certainly have the players and the credentials match up but on the evidence of tonight, all the players don't seem to be on the same page. Apart from the odd move, players like Silva and Di Maria don't do enough and if City are to sustain a challenge then they need every player to do their bit. Hazard is the best example of how hard they have to work with the Belgian deservedly picking up the man of the match award. Simo has to hope his team can all get it together at the same time and for a lengthy period or else it will be the same old story of battling near the top without having the extra bit needed to win the title.
West Ham United remain unbeaten after tonight and Attila Olah has made them a hard working unit that are difficult to beat. Their best chance for a bit of silverware will come in one of the Cups and if they can see off Tranmere in the Shield next Monday then they will be in with a good chance of going all the way. There are no big stars but they gel well as a team and in Andy Carroll, they will always carry a threat up front. The problem is if Carroll gets injured, what will they do. He was the man that caused all the problems for City and if he goes down you have to wonder where the goals will come from. A place in Europe will be a successful season for West Ham and there is no reason they can't achieve that..... as long as Carroll stays fit.
Next up for Manchester City is a trip to Leicester while West Ham are on the road for the first of two games against Tranmere.
Fannie Licker @ Upton Park, East London
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