At the final whistle, the score is 2-1 to Manchester City, as successful strikes from Gündoğan and Fernandinho steal the points at the Etihad!
Snow may have hampered proceedings somewhat at the Etihad on Sunday, but it didn’t stop Manchester City from earning a 2-1 win over fellow Champions League contenders, West Ham United.
Unlike the Tottenham Hotspur vs. Burnley English Premier League (EPL) encounter, which was postponed earlier in the day, the game in Manchester proceeded.
However, it was difficult at times to even see the pitch through the snow showers. The start of the second half was also delayed by five minutes, as groundstaff attempted to clear the playing surface.
“[I am] surprised with the amount of chances we created against them. We created a few. The first half was almost impossible to play. We have incredible groundskeepers. Thanks to them we could play,” City boss, Pep Guardiola, said after the match.
İlkay Gündoğan opened the scoring on 33 minutes when João Cancelo found Riyad Mahrez on the right. The Algerian then teed up the German for an easy tap-in.
Fernandinho added a second in the final moments, with one of his first touches of the match, after replacing Raheem Sterling 3 minutes before full time.
The Citizens took a short corner which West Ham half-defended, allowing Fernandinho to get a low shot off, which found the back of the net.
The London outfit did string a few promising attacks together. The best and most frustrating of these came In the second half when Vladimír Coufal and Michail Antonio both went for the same ball, which gave City the chance to clear and kill off the danger.
David Moyes’ side finally netted deep into injury time when Manuel Lanzini robbed Fernandinho and volleyed the ball into the net, via the post.
The win sees City leapfrog Liverpool into second place in the EPL table. The Hammers slip further from the top three, now five points adrift of the Merseyside club and in 4th.
