Erling Haaland scored another hat-trick as Manchester City beat West Ham United 3-1 in the Premier League, ensuring the Citizens remain unbeaten against the Hammers for an 18th consecutive time. Łukasz Fabiański played half of the match after Areola was injured but was unable to stop Haaland scoring a third goal.
Many expected West Ham to sit low and reactive, but Julen Lopetegui’s men could have taken an early lead thanks to Jarrod Bowen’s venomous strike that found the palms of Ederson, but Man City quickly turned the tables when Haaland found his surgical precision in the 10th minute after a poor save from Paqueta.
The visitors’ chances continued to pile up, with Alphonse Areola having to react quickly to avoid being let down by Kevin De Bruyne’s intelligent strike, which he then headed into the woodwork. It was a period of complete City dominance, but the Hammers equalised when Bowen got past Joško Gvardiola and sent a cross-field ball into the net by Rúben Dias.
It proved to be a minor setback for the visitors as tricky play around the West Ham penalty area after the half-hour ended with Haaland receiving a pass from Rico Lewis and striking the ball past Areola. Haaland then returned the favour with a pass to Rico Lewis, although the right-back failed to find the target.
Łukasz Fabiański replaced Areola after the break to make his 200th appearance for the Hammers, but it was Ederson who was given an early scare in the second half when a lightning-fast move ended with Mohammed Kudus hitting the post. That moment restored hope for the home side, and a smart save from Manuel Akanji was essential to deny Michail Antonio a clear shot on target.
There were chances for both sides: Dias shot wide and Max Kilman headed wide. Tomáš Souček came closest to equalising shortly after coming off the bench, but his effort also went wide.
All hopes were then dashed when Haaland ran onto the ball from Matheus Nunes and headed it into the net to score his eighth Premier League hat-trick, as Manchester City extended their unbeaten away run to 19 – a run that stretches back to October 2023. West Ham, meanwhile, have now lost both of their home league games this season.
West Ham v Manchester City match numbersOpta by Stats Perform
