West Ham 0-2 Manchester City: Player Ratings as Haaland scores twice in EPL debut

The Norwegian star found a perfect start to his first season at Man City.

Manchester City defeated West Ham 2-0 in their first Premier League match of the 2022-23 season. Erling Haaland scored a brace to seal the Citizens’ strong start to their title-defending campaign.

Haaland opens Premier League account!

Manchester City struggled to find their rhythm early on, with West Ham finding a few decent goalscoring chances.

However, the hosts failed to convert their opportunities, giving enough time to the Citizens to start mounting pressure on their backline.

Following a careless challenge by Alphonse Areola, Erling Haaland went down inside West Ham’s box in the 36th minute. The Norwegian stepped up to break the deadlock by converting the penalty with a precise low shot.

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City doubled down on their attacks at the beginning of the second period. Following a few missed chances, Haaland doubled his side’s lead five minutes past the hour-mark.

A lightning-quick counter-attack saw Kevin de Brunye provide a fantastic assist for his new teammate. The through ball found Haaland inside the box before the 22-year-old smashed it past Areola with a cool finish.

West Ham pushed to get back into the game in the final ten minutes, but the constant threat of City’s counter-attack prevented them from going all-in with their efforts.

What’s next for Man City?

Man City became one of the eight teams that started the new campaign with a victory.

Pep Guardiola’s side will lock horns with Bournemouth in their next league game on Saturday.

Player Ratings

West Ham: Fabianski (6), Coufal (5), Zouma (6), Cresswell (6), Johnson (6), Rice (6), Soucek (5), Lanzini (5), Bowen (5), Fornals (5), Antonio (6).

Bench: Areola (4), Downes (-), Coventry (-), Benrahma (6), Scamacca (6).

Man City: Ederson (7), Walker (6), Dias (7), Ake (7), Cancelo (7), Rodrigo (7), De Bruyne (7), Gundogan (6), Foden (6), Haaland (8), Grealish (7).

Bench: Phillips (-), Silva (7), Palmer (-), Alvarez (5), Mahrez (-).