Man City 3 West Ham 1

City had enough chances in the first half to put the game beyond West Ham but in the end had to rely on some ludicrous refereeing decisions.

In the first 15 minutes Tevez on his own could have had a hat-trick but only managed to convert one of his chances. In the fourth minute some awful West Ham defending left Petrov free on the left wing to bomb forward and cross for Tevez, who was also left completely unmarked, to knock the ball in from six yards.

In the 23rd minute West Ham won a free-kick on the left wing. Diaminti knocked the ball into the box. The ball was cleared to Kovac on the edge of the area. He shot hard and low, the ball was flying wide but Cole was able to sweetly flick the ball in from four yards.

West Ham then began to see a bit more of the ball and looked to be well in the game. However in the 30th minute Jimenez won the ball just outside the West Ham area. The ref however deemed he had fouled in winning the ball. Petrov struck the free-kick low and wide of the wall and beat Green low down as he was diving to his right.

In the 40th minute West Ham equalised again. Cole won the ball off Lescott just outside the City area, he crossed for Parker who shot home. Only for the linesman to deem Cole had forced his shirt into Lescott's hand and incredibly the ref denied the goal.


West Ham started the second half brightly and dominated the opening ten minutes without creating any clear chances. In the 60th minute however Faubert gave a free-kick away on the right, about 35 yards out. The ball was knocked into the box and the smallest man on the pitch was able to head home unchallenged from 5 yards. It was Tevez's second goal.

In the 65th minute Noble shot from 25 yards but straight at Given. A minute later and Diamanti shot just wide from the edge of the area. The ref gave a corner. Diamanti took the corner short, got the ball back and fired a curling shot from the right edge of the area, forcing Given to tip the ball over the bar.

In the 73rd minute West Ham won a corner. From the corner Tomkins had a good chance to score form 6 yards but managed to head sideways, rather than at goal. In the 84th minute Cole headed wide from seven yards from another Diamanti free-kick. In the 87th minute Santa Cruz shot wide from 8 yards out. A minute later and Petrov blasted over from nine yards, when he should have scored.


If it wasn't for some awful refereeing decisions this game could have had a different scoreline. However West Ham were at fault defensively for two of City's goals (why was Collins sold?) and Green will be disappointed to have been beaten from a free-kick that wasn't put too far wide of his starting position. In terms of attacking play West Ham could learn a lot from City about attacking with pace, forwards moving off the ball and how to use the wings.