Mancity

27 min More like it from City, Grealish drifting infield and finding Haaland, who touches off beautifully around the corner for Gundogan. He his the line and ...

Nothing. VAR should be taken out of the hands of the PGMOL and there should be a trial with a panel of, say, three ex-pros.” He shouldn’t have got the United job but also that job was a forest fire for anyone and has been since.” I don’t know: we can expect consistency in the same game, but the way the laws are drafted, we can’t expect it across different ones because there’s room for differing interpretations – as it goes, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. 62 min Here come City looking for a second, Foden nashing down the right and crossing low ... with Haaland sliding in the like T-1000 on a toboggan. 74 min “Just so you know,” returns JR, “on that Cancelo foul on Bowen (which probably wasn’t even a foul) the yellow card given to Cancelo wasn’t actually for the foul itself. It’s also worth noting that without oil money, Man United might’ve won every title from 07-13, also not healthy, but that said, I’d totally be behind a salary cap and anything else that took state wealth and similar out of the equation. I get it was done to reduce the number of stoppage due to VAR but it is ridiculous. 81 min “Just wanted to chime in in the eternal VAR debate,” chimes in Alexaandre. “I actually agree with your earlier point that laws give a lot of room for interpretation, explaining inconsistencies. These types of manager produce teams which at their best are mechanically effective but they lack a more holistic vision for the game, there is no big idea and it’s becoming increasingly clear that at the rarefied level at the elite of the elite you maybe need one. I was, though, disappointed in Rice and Soucek, who couldn’t really get in the game, but I doubt I’ll be saying that in a couple of weeks. 86 min “I think a good way of contextualising the idea of a Moyes sweet-spot is to look for the Moyes equivalents,” emails Zack Gomperts-Mitchelson. “That is very good managers who nonetheless lack something either when it comes to tactics, charisma or indeed their vision of the game that means there is a ceiling, in terms of club, for their talents.There is one outstanding example, it’s the Spanish David Moyes himself: Unai Emery. Brilliant manager, great results, real silverware on the shelf and he’s never getting a big job again. 90+1 min Alvarez mugs Rice outside the box, scurries right and pivots into a shot, crunching Zouma in the coupon.

Soccer Football - Premier League - West Ham United v Manchester City - London Stadium, Haaland scored twice on his Premier League debut (Photo: Reuters).

7/10 Unclear how many games he has left at City. 6/10 Very nearly gave Haaland his hattrick with a neat pullback. Erling Haaland – Tried to stretch his neck to connect with a dinked Foden cross that could have resulted a debut goal. Stifling the Man City midfield is a two-man job (at least). 6/10 Ilkay Gundogan – Broke the lines at will and provided the pass for Haaland to win his first-half penalty. Does the kind of work that allows Gundogan and De Bruyne to flourish. Kevin De Bruyne – Thought he had opened the scoring in the first half before Gundogan was flagged for offside. Kurt Zouma – Looked a little heavy-legged when Haaland sprinted away from him in the second half and even more so after an Alvarez shot absolutely smashed him flush in the face in added time. Far better defenders will be made to look silly by him. Ben Johnson – Got his body position wrong when Haaland started accelerating past him and could not get turned around in time to react. Lukaz Fabianski – A little shaky early on, heading a ball that he might have been able to wait and catch, before flapping at a De Bruyne cross.

Manchester City kicked off their new season with a win as Erling Haaland scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over West Ham.

- Pep Guardiola's new No.9 planted the ball on the spot after being fouled in the area and slammed home his first in the league to break the deadlock. City fans have taken to serenading Micah Richards and Roy Keane in the Sky studio to their left. Yes his hold up play will improve but that movement in the final third was expectational. We had a minute and I told the players that but after that it’s a case of staying in the game. City lost to Tottenham on the opening weekend last year and saw their biggest threat to another title, Liverpool, held by Fulham on Saturday, so were already prepared for a difficult assignment first up. The 22-year-old lost his marker with a neat swivel before latching on to an Ilkay Gundogan through ball. Just about recovered in time after dropping a routine ball in the penalty area, then down to keep out a Benrahma effort. City are just passing their way to victory here. If you saw the Gundo right before I went off I should’ve been there so it was a bit s*** but that’s how it is. But look, their quality told in the end and we were missing one or two at the back The passes will come, should’ve been more today but good start. We tried hard to replicate what we did last season but they were so good today.

Haaland became the first player to score a penalty on his Premier League debut since Jorginho for Chelsea against Huddersfield in August 2018.

Erling Haaland (Manchester City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. - Away4 - Away4 - Home1 - Home1 - Shots - Possession - 80Palmer - 26Mahrez - 19Álvarez - 18Ortega - 5Stones