West Ham’s defenses looked like lambs to the slaughter against Erling Haaland… he’s Manchester City’s new manhood and his brace showed rivals they CANNOT grant Pep Guardiola’s freedom of the wings like they used to
Erling Haaland dominated the West Ham defense and led Man City to their first win
He won and scored a penalty in the first half before making it 2-0 in the second
The Hammers were forced to bet right-back Ben Johnson on the centre-back
They were without centre-backs Craig Dawson, Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop
New Irons star Nayef Aguerd also injured after his £30million summer move
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All the West Ham fans hoping Craig Dawson would kick Erling Haaland all the way to the Westfield mall were disappointed the moment the team sheet fell.
No Dawson, no Angelo Ogbonna, no Issa Diop and no Nayef Aguerd, their new £30million centre-back who will miss the first two months of this season.
With that, West Ham only had one fit central defender at the start: Kurt Zouma. Beside him was Ben Johnson, a fullback who made his best impression of a central defender.
Erling Haaland scored twice on his Premier League debut when Man City beat West Ham 2-0
It meant a mini-crisis to start the season for David Moyes, and Haaland – with a nod to the cameras at kick-off and father, Alf-Inge, cheering him on from the end at the London Stadium – would always take full advantage.
One goal from the penalty spot and the other the result of a perfectly timed run behind West Ham’s makeshift back line, both ruthlessly buried.
How Pep Guardiola uses Haaland has been the subject of debate and the six-foot striker wasn’t your typical ‘big man from above’. He sank deep to get involved in the build-up, like all City’s false nines in the past two seasons.
The £51m new signing caused a foul in the penalty area for substitute goalkeeper Alphonse Areola
He sent the penalty to the delight of his teammates and gave City a 1-0 lead at half-time
Some opponents used a tactic of giving City their wings last season. They didn’t mind the Premier League champions waving in crosses because they felt they could handle that.
It also worked. Only three Premier League teams let City produce more than 40 crosses against them last season and they all got something out of their games – West Ham was one of them in a 2-2 draw at London Stadium in May.
But with City’s new man mountain, those crosses are now a much more dangerous prospect. In the 20th minute we saw why, with Phil Foden’s inswinger inches from Haaland’s head, the striker had cleverly positioned himself between Zouma and Johnson.
Haaland scored his second in the 65th minute and converted a smart pass from Kevin de Bruyne
It was a difficult afternoon for full-back Ben Johnson, who was forced to replace the centre-back
The problem is that if opponents try to take out City’s big men to prevent crosses coming in, it leaves room for Guardiola’s engineers to exploit elsewhere.
Ilkay Gundogan used one space to play the through ball that led to Haaland opening his Premier League account in the 36th minute. Haaland was stumbled in the penalty area by West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola and then immediately got back on his feet to get the ball, as if he couldn’t wait for his first goal in the toughest league in the world.
West Ham’s afternoon deteriorated as Zouma was able to stumble around, although they were unable to replace him. Instead, Haaland ran behind the home side’s last remaining central defender to hold on to De Bruyne’s assist and score outside Areola.
A fine first showing for the beast from Norway against a West Ham defense that looked like lambs for slaughter from the start.