After Manchester City’s second consecutive win, Pep Guardiola warned that his team did not play well, lacked composure and were far from returning to their prime.
City continued an unconvincing 2-0 triumph over Leicester City last week with a 4-1 home win against West Ham United on Sunday that was not so pleasant as the result would suggest.
West Ham had the best chances in the opening ten minutes before Vladimir Coufalo’s fortuitous own goal pushed City into the lead. Erling Haaland he put the defending champions 2-0 up in the first half, after great play from Savinho, while a second goal for the Norwegian and a Phil Foden tap-in extended the margin to four goals inside the first hour.
Niclas Fullkrug reduced the deficit of the visitors, who lost the last two matches with a total score of 1-9, but CityThe boss was also concerned about his side’s display. “You judge the results,” Guardiola told the assembled media in his post-match press conference. “Our performance was not good. We have seen in many years our level. We are not at our level.
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m so happy. I’ll sleep better until the FA Cup. But he asked if the old Manchester City and the way we play is coming back? No. You have to know that. You’ve seen the games for years, they’re not up to par, come on.
“Of course there are an incredible amount of positives. But if you ask me is the team playing like it did years ago, no, absolutely not.”
West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui agreed his side put in a decent performance – especially compared to Liverpool lost 5-0 last weekend. “Today’s game was very, very different [to Liverpool]”, said the coach under pressure. “We didn’t take advantage of our clean situations.”
“There were hints of brilliance,” was what Guardiola would admit. “The work ethic has been incredible, but still not the composure. We’re picking things up. We’ve struggled with results recently, but the last two wins are good and we haven’t lost in three games now.”
The Premier League next Saturday, the champions host fourth-tier Salford City in the third round of the FA Cup. A club backed by an overabundance of former players Manchester United players will be hoping that Manchester City are still looking for their best at the Etihad.
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