Manchester City beat West Ham 2-0 in first game since Europe ban
Manchester City cruised to a 2-0 victory over West Ham United on Wednesday evening in their first game since their European ban was announced.
In a game that was originally postponed because of storm Ciara, Rodri put the Premier League champions ahead with a 30th minute header and Kevin de Bruyne secured the result with his strike in the 62nd minute.
Read also: Tokyo 2020 Olympics: African qualifiers excites Taekwondo federation
On Friday, Manchester City were banned from all European competitions for breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Pep Guardiola’s side sit second in the Premier League 22 points behind leaders Liverpool on 54 points while West Ham are still 18th, in the relegation zone, on 24 points.
Despite news of their European ban casting a shadow over the club’s future, Manchester City were in full control from start to finish with de Bruyne setting up the first goal from a corner and then adding his name to the scoresheet.
“We are professionals on the pitch, what happens off it we cannot do much,” said Guardiola.
“We talked about what we have to do until the end of the season, especially for the people who love this club. We will play our game the best as possible. We have a lot of interesting things to play for.”
West Ham offered little threat as they did not register a single shot on target, remaining in the relegation zone – a position they have not been in since 2011.
West Ham offered little threat as they did not register a single shot on target, remaining in the relegation zone – a position they have not been in since 2011.
“Overall I would have liked to have seen us play much better with the ball and especially on the counter attack,” said Hammers boss David Moyes.
“Our pass or ball was not good enough or we gave it away when we were trying to set up a move, but we were playing against a top team.”
Moyes added that he has no fear of being relegated to the second tier just yet with a game against league leaders Liverpool on Monday.
“We all know that roughly 40 points keeps you in the Premier League,” said Moyes.
“We also know that we are in a really tough period of games. Goal difference also comes into the thinking.”
Meanwhile, City will take their appeal against their two-year European ban to the Court of Arbitration for sport eagerly awaiting a decision.
