5 Issues Discovered: West Ham 1-3 Manchester Metropolis (Premier League)

Erling Haaland grabbed his second hat-trick of the season to hold Manchester Metropolis to a 1-3 win in opposition to West Ham on the London Stadium.

Following Saturday afternoon’s win, Manchester Metropolis sit high of the Premier League desk, two factors forward of Arsenal and Brighton.

It was additionally a record-breaking efficiency from Pep Guardiola’s facet. The Catalan coach’s 17-game unbeaten streak versus the Hammers is essentially the most by a Premier League supervisor in opposition to a single membership – breaking Sir Alex Ferguson’s document in opposition to Charlton Athletic.

Haaland grabbed his first objective 10 minutes into the match when Manchester Metropolis took benefit of a West Ham turnover in midfield. Bernardo Silva gained the ball off Lucas Paqueta and performed the Norwegian by means of on objective.

West Ham have been lucky to attract stage within the nineteenth minute when Jarrod Bowen’s cross got here off the leg of Ruben Dias and into Manchester Metropolis’s web. It capped off a quick spell that noticed West Ham put Ederson and Manchester Metropolis beneath some duress. Nonetheless, it could be one of many few vivid spots of the day for the Hammers.

Manchester Metropolis regained the lead ten minutes later when Erling Haaland beat Alphonse Areola with energy. It was a well-worked staff objective, that noticed Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis cross the ball round West Ham’s field to set-up the Norwegian.

The Sky Blues carried their 2-1 lead into half-time and all through many of the second-half till Matheus Nunes performed Erling Haaland in behind to set-up the the 24-year-old’s newest hat-trick.

The Portuguese midfielder beat a pair of West Ham gamers off the dribble earlier than taking part in the striker by means of on objective, Haaland took a couple of touches and chipped the goalkeeper to make it 3-1.

With the primary intentional break of the season set to start this week, Manchester Metropolis’s subsequent match shall be September 14th in opposition to Brentford on the Etihad.

Listed below are the 5 issues discovered from Manchester Metropolis’s win over West Ham!

A wholesome Haaland is unstoppable

It was only some weeks in the past when Erling Haaland informed reporters he was pain-free for the primary time in ages. Whereas it was actually talked about to some extent, we’re solely now starting to totally perceive the results of that. After Saturday’s efficiency, Haaland now stands at 70 objectives in 69 Premier League video games.

The Norwegian’s seven objectives within the first three matches of the season places him on the high of the Golden Boot race, in actual fact, no different Premier League membership has even managed to attain greater than seven objectives to this point this season.

Haaland has already grabbed his second hat-trick of the marketing campaign, and his eight Premier League hat-tricks at the moment are fourth all-time, trailing solely Robbie Fowler (9), Alan Shearer (11) and Sergio Aguero (12). With one other 35 video games remaining within the league, it’s cheap to imagine Aguero’s document may fall by the Spring.

Manchester Metropolis are exhibiting no indicators of slowing down

It’s onerous to think about a Premier League membership profitable 5 league titles in a row, identical to it appeared onerous to think about a Premier League membership to win 4 titles in a row. Nonetheless, Manchester Metropolis are set to enter the primary worldwide break high of the Premier League desk, with a two-point lead over Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola has managed to maintain Manchester Metropolis working at near-peak capability, regardless of not that includes Rodri for a single second this season. Whereas it’s nonetheless extremely early, it’s shocking to see the Sky Blues already performing so nicely.

It was an attention-grabbing finish of the season for the Belgian midfielder final 12 months. De Bruyne completed the season with a wonderful objectives and assists document, however the precise performances have been barely worrying.

Quick ahead to August and that now not seems to be the case. Whereas De Bruyne might not longer be as athletic or bodily as he as soon as was, he seems to be in higher form in comparison with his early 2024 self.

Manchester Metropolis have proven that they will win titles with out De Bruyne. Nonetheless, he stays the essential cog in each huge sport, particularly within the Champions League. If De Bruyne can keep away from choosing up one other main damage, it’s straightforward to think about the Sky Blues pushing for an additional treble.

After a couple of shaky performances at first of the brand new season, the Croatian defender regarded again to his finest on Saturday. Jarrod Bowen proved to be a tough process for him final season, but he was not often a menace all through many of the match.

Manchester Metropolis’s total defence has been sturdy to this point, however Gvardiol’s enchancment is promising and is required if the Blues intend to win a fifth consecutive Premier League title.

Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis proceed to cross the check

It was worrisome when but one other switch window closed with Manchester Metropolis not signing a Rodri substitute. Whereas there have been loads of positives to be taken away from Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis’ first team-up in opposition to Chelsea, there have been additionally a couple of important errors.

Quick ahead to the top of August and whereas it’s not an ideal like-for-like substitute for Rodri, their partnership has been greater than adequate. Dropping Rodri was a loss of life sentence final 12 months, now they’ve already gained two video games away from house in opposition to golf equipment that contend for Europe.