West Ham 0-2 Man City: Player ratings as Haaland brace downs Hammers

Manchester City’s Premier League title defence began with a 2-0 win at West Ham United on Sunday.

Erling Haaland silenced his early critics to score a brace on his league debut for City, who enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and were made to work through a dogged West Ham team.

The hosts made a fast start with Aaron Cresswell crossing for Michail Antonio, but his near-post flick deflected behind for a corner and he headed over from a cross following the resulting set piece.

Kevin De Bruyne dragged a shot from 18 yards wide as the visitors struggled to break down their stubborn hosts, while Haaland couldn’t get a solid enough contact on a dangerous Phil Foden cross.

City had the ball in the net after 27 minutes when Ilkay Gundogan squared for De Bruyne to tap in, but the flag was raised for a clear offside against the German.

Substitute goalkeeper Alphonse Areola conceded a penalty soon after replacing the injured Lukasz Fabianski when he brought down Haaland, who stepped up and rolled his spot kick into the far left corner to open the scoring.

A rare error from Gundogan led to Declan Rice getting a shot off, but his 20-yard strike sailed harmlessly over the top.

David Moyes brought new signing Gianluca Scamacca and Said Benrahma into the fold to try and capitalise on this faint upward trajectory, with the Algerian forcing Ederson into a save soon after his introduction.

But City hit West Ham on the break to double their lead as De Bruyne quickly turned and slipped through Haaland to grab his brace.

The gangly Norwegian was desperate to grab a hat-trick and nearly did so when he rose highest to meet Jack Grealish’s pacy cross, but he couldn’t keep his header down.

A powerful header from Scamacca brought a top stretching save out of Ederson, but he was several yards offside when Vladimir Coufal crossed for him.

Rodri and Grealish dragged shots wide as City went in search of a third, but they had to settle for just the two goals.