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<\/p>\nPep Guardiola was blown away by his new wide starlet Jeremy Doku as Manchester City cut West Ham to shreds during a brutal second-half display. Doku, who was once courted by Liverpool during his teenage years at Anderlecht after being invited to Melwood to meet Jurgen Klopp, netted City’s first in a convincing 3-1 victory.<\/p>\n
Guardiola was in awe of the 21-year-old’s personality and confidence on the ball, stating: “When you buy a young player like him on a long-term contract, you have to be patient. I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect him to play like that in his second game for Manchester City.<\/p>\n
“That kind of performance from a winger, I don’t remember for a long time something like that.” Meanwhile, David Moyes was left to rue West Ham’s failure to land Doku, who had made his way onto their summer transfer shortlist.<\/p>\n
Moyes said: “Doku we liked a lot, we played against him in pre-season. Very direct and very good one-on-one. He was a real handful today.” He added on his side’s performance: “There are small margins in football at the moment. We played against a top, top team. I’m not disappointed with how we played, just small moments can make a big difference.”<\/p>\n
Pre-match, City boss Guardiola beamed: \u201cThe real season starts now,” on Friday. And if this merciless 3-1 victory at West Ham was a sign of things to come, his treble-winning City side will once again take some stopping. This gutsy triumph was the perfect medicine for the Spanish tactician, who has missed the past two City matches following a recent back operation.<\/p>\n
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The champions were forced to stomach a first-half sucker-punch when James Ward-Prowse headed home the opener but still, City kept marching forward before delivering a savage knockout finish. The brutal reality is that this convincing fightback never really looked in doubt and there was a feeling of inevitability about the manner of City’s victory despite West Ham’s credible spirit.<\/p>\n
The exceptional Jeremy Doku levelled the scoring after the break before Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland helped maintain City’s 100 per cent record after five matches. City, who have won their opening three away fixtures for the first time since 2017, found solutions even when their Norwegian talisman couldn’t buy a goal but in typical Haaland fashion – he still ensured he had the final say.<\/p>\n
Alphonse Areola was forced into action in the opening minutes as City peppered the Frenchman’s goal. First Rodri saw a low drive stopped following Phil Foden’s lofted corner before the Spaniard’s rebound was blocked by the brave Nayef Aguerd.<\/p>\n
Tomas Soucek then headed Haaland’s goal-bound effort off the line before Ruben Dias’ header was tipped over the bar during a frantic episode of penalty-box ping pong. Just moments later, Haaland spurned a glorious chance wide of the mark following Josko Gvardiol’s low cross to the back post.<\/p>\n
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West Ham’s solidity and defensive organisation was then rewarded in the 36th minute when Ward-Prowse headed Vladimir Coufal’s pinpoint cross beyond Ederson to send the home crowd berserk. Manuel Akanji was caught under the flight of the ball as West Ham’s inspired \u00a330million summer signing made it two goals and three assists in four top-flight appearances following his switch from Southampton.<\/p>\n
Yet despite the thunderous atmosphere that had been whipped up inside the London Stadium following the brilliantly-worked opener, City remained an active threat. New \u00a355.4m arrival Doku sparkled – displaying remarkable close control and an electric turn of pace to humiliate helpless marker Coufal.<\/p>\n
Haaland’s second goal-bound effort was once again cleared off the line – this time by the alert Aguerd – on the stroke of the half-time whistle. However, it was a different story less than a minute after the interval when the 21-year-old Belgian left Coufal for dead before rolling the ball into the far corner for the leveller.<\/p>\n
City came close to adding a second through Julian Alvarez, who struck the post from a free-kick, before Haaland was once again denied by the acrobatics of Areola. Bernardo Silva finally put City ahead when he dinked the ball over the onrushing West Ham goalkeeper following a lapse in concentration at the back. Haaland then made sure of the points when he slammed home a third in-front of the travelling faithful.<\/p>\n