Manchester City would be looking to make a mends for the 4 goals they conceded last week against Aston Villa.  If West Ham could get another victory they would be one of the only teams, along with Liverpool and Chelsea, to get six points from their first two matches.

City started the game off very brightly, controlling most of the play, and West Ham seemed to fall into a defensive shell.  Manchester continued to be patient, knocking the ball around in the Hammers half trying to build up wave after wave of attack.  Young City striker Daniel Sturridge looked lively in the West Ham box, and City twice struck Robert Green's woodwork.

Mark Nobel lost the ball in the middle of the park and proceed to handle the ball to stop a counter-attack and received a yellow card.  Ten minutes later he slid in the back of Michael Johnson, collecting his second yellow card and his marching orders.  The situation was looking very bleak for West Ham with more than half the game to go, under pressure, and now down to 10 men, but they managed to get into half time with match still tied up.

In the second half the onslaught continued, with West Ham playing Dean Ashton as a lone striker and everyone else behind the ball defending.  Shortly into the second half Micah Richards bumped heads with teammate Tal Ben-Haim and required a trip to the hospital; this stop in play would result in 10 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the match.

The breakthrough came when the ball fell to Sturridge inside the area and he blasted it into the roof of the net.  A man down and now a goal down West Ham did not look like coming back from this.  A few minutes later Elano added 2 more goals, both set up by Stephen Ireland, which sealed a 3-0 victory.

Mark Huges will be glad to get his first premier league win as manager of City, whereas Alan Curblishly will be feeling the pressure as the West Ham expectations are always high.

Overall Match Rating: 3.5 out of 5