Manchester City 2-1 West Ham: Gundogan and Fernandinho on target as Pep’s men go back second

The defending champions made light of the difficult wintry conditions at the Etihad Stadium, where the visitors have now won just once in 16 top-flight visits.

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Gundogan was on target in a first half where Riyad Mahrez had a strike ruled out, while the Hammers – who have now suffered back-to-back league defeats – were put to rest when Fernandinho netted late on with Manuel Lanzini’s goal proving a mere consolation.

Pep Guardiola’s 10th top-flight win in 11 attempts against West Ham means City move level on points with leaders Chelsea, albeit that may prove brief as the Blues host Manchester United later on Sunday.

15 – Ilkay Gündogan has scored 15 non-penalty goals in 37 Premier League appearances since the start of last season; the most of any midfielder, ahead of Bruno Fernandes in second place (13 in 49 apps). Fox. pic.twitter.com/tHpQOcHOMi OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 28, 2021

Aymeric Laporte headed onto the right-hand post in the opening stages before Mahrez was adjudged to be offside from Raheem Sterling’s pass after he had powered past Lukasz Fabianski.

City broke the deadlock when Gundogan bundled Mahrez’s low cross home, with Ben Johnson then required to clear Gabriel Jesus’ effort off the line and Mahrez cannoning against the woodwork in a flurry of first-half chances.

The hosts almost doubled their lead after the interval through Jesus, who saw another chipped attempt cleared off the line by Aaron Cresswell, while Sterling blasted wildly over after the hour mark.

Jesus then teed up Fernandinho to slot into the bottom-left corner to make sure of the result with Bernardo Silva seeing another ruled out prior to Lanzini curling perfectly past Ederson to at least half the arrears for West Ham.