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WEST HAM 2 MANCHESTER CITY 1
Is there a problem with the City defence? Is Sergio Aguero the best striker in the Premier League? Send answers and any other footballing thoughts you may have to alan.tyers@telegraph.co.uk
90+ mins: Building from the back. Kolarov in space down the left. Good challenge Mark Noble to take it off Navas. Song clears.
90 mins: Not quite sure where they have got five minutes of added time from, but that's what we are having. have City got a late goal in them?
89 mins: Yaya holds it up in the box, turns, and shoots into the side netting.
88 mins: Actually takes a while for a break to get Nolan on, and he's here replacing Sakho. BT Sport earlier showed a graphic that the first goal may have been offside, but there's been hardly any time to anaylse that.
87 mins: Jenkinson's lost it, hospital pass from Song, a rare mistake from him. That ends the few seconds of respite that WHU were enjoying. Man City work the opportunity but Navas ends up by delivering a tame cross.
85 mins: Big Sam plays one of his favourite cards, about to bring on good old Kevin Nolan to help stem the tide in the last five minutes.
83 mins: Rare chance for WHY to get forward, Noble stretches but cannot get power into his shot. Mangala and Sakho tustle for the ball and Sakho goes down looking for the penalty. Nothing doing. Joe Hart races out and accidentally kneews Sakho in the head.
82 mins: It's all hands to the pump for West Ham - here's Sakho in his own box desperately intercepting. Yaya's shot well over.
80 mins: The ball is lashed across the WHU box but nobody can get on it. Kolarov, on for Clichy, has gone close. Fernando is also off, in favour of Milner.
78 mins: Here's City again. Jovetic knocks it down, Aguero with a shot, it's blocked. Collins lunges in to save the day. Valencia, who has put in a hell of a shift, is off for Carlton Cole.
GOAL! But the Hammers have no answer to this. A goal of individual brilliance from Silva, who cuts in from the right, beats on, beats another, shifts the ball onto his left and flays it home! What a goal! West Ham 2 Man City 1 (Silva 77)
76 mins: Wonderful match, City are all over WHU but the home side are standing firm.
GOAL! Sakho has done it. That's his sixth goal in six PL games and that's a club record. Great cross from the left, firm header, and Joe Hart makes a heroic effort to save. But it's over the line as he claws it back! West Ham 2 Man City 0 (Sakho 75)
70 mins: Chopper Silva has hurt Song with a tackle. Reid a rock at the back for WHU, but Silva and Aguero are opening West Ham up again and again. They've now cut it back to Yaya, who whips a shot at the top corner... hits the bar!
68 mins: Exciting and end-to-end stuff as Sakho runs at Mangala, the game stretching. Good move from the Hammers, Song breaks, looks up and picks out Valenica. He spots his mate Sakho inside, tees him up and the curling shot lands on the roof of the net. Brilliant atmosphere.
66 mins: Kompany must be on his last warning after tripping Valencia there.
65 mins: All City now, Yaya has an effort from distance. It's time for Sam's first change, and he brings on the powerful midfielder Kouyate in favour of Amalfitano. Hammers burst down the left with Valencia and it takes a desperate lunge from Mangala to keep the ball away from the Hammers striker Sakho. That would have been the vital second.
63 mins: City with lots of the ball and they've opened up WHU down the right. Storming run from Yaya, out to the right hand side, it's crossed low and here's that man Aguero! He's hit the bar from eight yards! Remarkable miss. He was leaning back as he hit it. Adrian gets it clear.
62 mins: It is going to be a searching examination for WHU for the rest of the afternoon.
59 mins: Jovetic comes on (Dzeko) and he's making a difference right away. Here's Aguero wriggling clear and his shot is saved, it rebounds onto Reid and he inadvertantly steers it right back to Aguero! Shoots again and it is scrambled clear by, I think, Collins. Jovetic down the left, Aguero up front on his own, and that's freed up Silva. City look far more dangerous
57 mins: Quieter period, a good Bronx cheer for Mangala as he slices a clearance. Nice ball from Noble, Clichy finds himself two on one at the back post and it's Sakho who has a chance to steer the ball at goal. Technically as tough as it gets with the dropping ball and he's not found the target.
55 mins: Barnstorming performance from Alex Song that only needs a second yellow to cap it.
53 mins: Valencia has a crack, good work from Song as he chests it down and Downing arrives to lash a shot at goal! Oooh, he's put it well wide. That was a really important chance to get the vital second goal and I fear the Irons will rue that. City in trouble at the back once again. My two cents? I don't think Yaya is the player he was and it's putting pressure on those further back.
51 mins: Kompany fouls Valencia, and I think it might have been one of those where he would have got a yellow if he wasn't already on a booking. You feel me? Anyway. Freekick WHU.
50 mins: Downing with an excellent cross and there's Valencia with the header... but City have played that offside trap expertly.
49 mins: City subs, as well they should be, are warming up on the touchline.
48 mins: Don't have time to check this so I will assume that Richard is either right, or that it was just banter.
46 mins: West Ham kick off the second half and look to catch City napping with a long ball. Half cleared, Cresswell with a run, and Kompany has to look lively to slide in and deny him, at the expense of a corner. City have a hard time clearing. Song has the ball, he slips and, sensing that City could break, clings onto the ball like a naughty hooker. As it were. You know, rugby?
13.45 Pow! One in the babymaker there from J Barton.
13.40 He don't mind a bit of gravy.
HT: WEST HAM 1 MANCHESTER CITY 0 What an enjoyable 45 minutes. West Ham very impressive indeed. Even more impressive than this picture.
Full Kit...
45 mins: But as the half comes to an end, Navas and Aguero linking up well and it is lucky for WHU that the Navas cross is so hard it hits the Argentine in the tummy. WHU just about get it clear and that's the end of the first half. Marc Melander writes:
A point of order. Fat (ter) Sam is originally from Birmingham so he would not be using the Scottish 'greetin'' but would either use the Brummie 'blarting' or more likely the Bolton 'maunging' to describe displeasure at a shrewd knock.
43 mins: Kompany into the book for a foul on Valencia. Questionable. Noble stands over the freekick. A nicely worked training ground move sees the ball slid across the City six yard box and it's so nearly a second goal. Mangala hoofs it to the safety of a corner. City are really under the pump here. After dominating the first ten minutes, they have managed only 35% posession.
40 mins: Creswell down that left again, low cross and there's Valencia with a crisp shot! It's just wide. The City defence posted missing as that ball came in. Think Hart was struggling to get there, as well...
39 mins: More excellent work from WHU, everyone knows his job and is working together well. They break down the left and win a corner. Creswell making good progress down that left wing. Andrew Holgate writes:
Thanks to the wonders of satellites I'm watching the game on an iPad (other mobile devices are available) somewhere between Majorca and Italy.
Having established a connection I find we are 1 down. City will win 3-1.
Aguero is the best striker in the league. Last week was a masterclass.
36 mins: Aguero runs across the 18-yard line. There is no space for the shot so he draws a foul from Reid. The ref buys it and City have a free in a dangerous position. Yaya slaughters the ball into the wall, it's blocked by poor James Collins, who gets it smack in the breadbasket. Ow. Yaya has another hard shot from the rebound. Song blocks.
35 mins: Song's fouled Aguero but the freekick does not overly trouble the West Ham defence. Dzeko and Mangala get in each other's way.
33 mins: Song robs Yaya, and Jenkinson profits with a strong run down the right, but his cross is too easy for Hart.
31 mins: Silva, prompting and prodding, slips it to Aguero, who hits a hard drive a yard or two wide.
29 mins: Valencia and Sakho link up very well after a powerful run from Valencia, the under-pressure champions have to hack clear. City are rattled. Valencia putting in a hero's shift.
28 mins: But here are WHU at the other end, ball in from the right, and it loops to Downing in the box... He heads over. The ball wouldn't drop in time for him.
27 mins: Quick, classy break from City and it spells danger for WHU, Creswell with a timely intervention.
24 mins: Super short corner from City, drilled in low and hard from the right, Dezko pounces with the training ground routine (as Teddy Sheringham looks on from the WHU bench!) and cracks it just wide.
22 mins: A goal against the run of play. Amalfitano, incidentally, was a very silly sausage - he jumped into the crowd to celebrate his goal and could well have been booked. He's on a yellow already, innit.
GOAL! Splendid stuff. West Ham break down the right, excellent run from Valencia and he's done Clichy up like a kipper. Pace and power, he gets to the byline, a scuffed cutback and Amalfitano has all the time in the world to tap it in! Scenes. West Ham 1 Man City 0 (Amalfitano 21)
19 mins: Chance! Kompany gives away a freekick. Hammers pump it down the middle, the Big Sam Way, it's knocked down and Valencia pounces! Brave goalkeeping from Joe Hart to deny him, and the England number one gets a nasty clattering in the process. Kompany hacks clear. That might have been offside anyway, but Hart wasn't to know. He's okay to carry on.
18 mins: Noble getting WHU playing, but a decent spell of the ball comes to an end as Aguero breaks. He's surrounded by Hammers defenders, and there's no way through.
16 mins: Alex Song doing some useful tidying up work in the centre of the park, but now he is blown up for fouling Navas. Not a foul IMO.
14 mins: City have a corner, it drops to Aguero on the left but the volley is from too narrow an angle.
13 mins: Silva starting to come in off his left wing, bossing it now. City have made 62 completed passes thus far, WHU: eight.
11 mins: City beginning to dominate the ball. Their midfield four allowed to pass it around and use the whole width of the pitch. Now Clichy joins in the attack down the left and the full back plays it into the feet of Dzeko... offside.
8 mins: Kompany lets the ball bounce, rookie error really. Mangala and Hart, under pressure, have to allow a corner.
6 mins: Amalfitano lunges in on Navas and is justly booked. Kompany's header from the resulting corner is over the bar.
5 mins: Silva flips the ball over the wall, very good effort, but it doesn't dip quite enough and flies a foot over the angle of post and bar.
4 mins: Decent run from Stew Downing, who is too quick for Dzeko. The big forward clips him. A ball pumped long into the City box, Hart comes out and fluffs a punch but the ref says that the goalie was fouled. At the other end, Aguero makes a strong run and Noble chops him from behind. Lucky not to see yellow. Dangerous position for City.
2 mins: Direct approach from City, Aguero breaks and lashes a right-footed shot from outside the area. It takes a big deflection, and Adrian has to scramble it behind for a corner.
1 mins: Negative start from City, who head back towards their own goal and lose the ball. Enner Valencia tries a hopeful shot well wide.
12.45 City will kick off; they're in their dark change strip.
12.43 As Michael notes, it's pretty rare to see two 4-4-2s lining up...
12.38 According to Jake H, Michael Owen (today's co-commentator) was the boyhood hero of Sergio Aguero. "You're making me feel old," says Michael.
Here's another popular chap.
12.36 Our first email of the day arrives from Amakye Ansah Oliver
In my book, Aguero is definitely the best striker in the epl. since joining man city from atleti, he has proven to all and sundry that he is one of the few best in the world.it is a shame that he is injury prone.i always say that he is the right footed version of king messi.he has everything a deadly striker needs.
12.35 Ian Wright says that Joe Hart should hold out for the best possible contract and Steve McMananannanananaman agrees that JH is in a very strong negotiating position because City don't really have any other strong goalies. "He's head and shoulders above the other City keepers," joshes Macca.
12.30 If he could stay fit, he could really be one of the best we have seen, I would think. City's problems look to me like they're at the other end. Joe Hart has been a very busy boy in that goal of late.
12.20 Another excellent graphic from BT Sport, this time about the efficacy of some of Europe's best strikers. Messi and Ronaldo I think we can basically dismiss as freaks of nature at this point - "silly numbers, PlayStation football", as Ian Wright says. But those two aside, Aguero is right up there with the absolute best.
12.15 Manny P reckons that Sergio Aguero has a "lot of things to improve on.... he is only 25." Scary.
12.06 Manchester City could be a very dangerous proposition, though, stung after a disappointing midweek result in the Champions League. It sounds like Manuel Pellegrini means business, judging from this interview with Mark Ogden.
Manuel Pellegrini has challenged Manchester City to dislodge Chelsea from the top of the Premier League before next month’s international break with Jose Mourinho’s leaders facing the toughest test of their title credentials over the next fortnight.
City, the defending champions, face West Ham United in Saturday’s lunchtime clash at Upton Park, while Chelsea travel to Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.
Victory for City would close the gap at the top to two points and, with Chelsea travelling to Anfield to play Liverpool on Nov 8, Pellegrini believes the picture at the top can change quickly before the next round of international fixtures early next month.
“Chelsea have two very difficult away games at United and Liverpool, so this is a moment for us try to win some points and see who will be the leader at the international break,” Pellegrini said. “You have to play for another 90 points, so there is a lot of time left to play.
“If we win at West Ham, maybe we can put some pressure on Chelsea because we play before them. But the issue for me, whether our game is early or late, is exactly the same. We have to play for another 90 points.
12.02 "We go on the computer and look at stats. We watch DVDs" - Big Sam reveals how it's all technology these days when it comes to player identification. That and seeing if the lad can head it and take a punch to the jaw without greetin.
Here's a nice graphic from BT Sport that illustrates how better players have allowed Sam to play better football.
12.01 West Ham beat Burnley the other day on Sam's 60th birthday. "I bet the cake tasted good," says Humphrey. Are you saying he's fat? Bit personal, no?
12.00 Right then. We're at Upton Park, it's a cloudy but mild day in London, high fiftties, no rain forecast. Big Sam is out of the dressing room and standing pitchside with Jake Humphrey et al.
11.50 I highly commend the following Sam Allardyce interview to you. It's by Henry Winter.
When West Ham United met Manchester City last season, Sam Allardyce’s side conceded five goals in the Premier League and nine in the Capital One Cup, and many fans bayed for the manager’s removal. Upton Park now hosts the champions on Saturday with West Ham in fourth place and Allardyce in a better place with supporters, given the improved quality of football.
The club’s co-owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, stayed strong in those dark days, backing Allardyce, reinforcing the squad in the summer, successfully installing Teddy Sheringham as attacking coach and quietly requesting football more in keeping with the club’s “academy” traditions, “attacking a bit more” in Sullivan’s words.
“They are the best owners I’ve ever had,” says Allardyce, sitting in his small but neat office at Chadwell Heath. “They are loyal. They could have cracked under pressure. At one stage I thought it might have been very, very close in December and January [to his sacking]. It’s very difficult to take the pressure when you’re the owner and every man and his dog is saying, ‘Your manager’s c---, you’ve got to get rid of him’.
11.45 Hello everyone, Tyers here. This could be an excellent weekend's football, no? Be quite something if West Ham could get a result against City.. and without further ado, here are the teams for that.
West Ham: Adrian, Jenkinson, Reid, Collins, Cresswell, Song, Amalfitano, Noble, Downing, Sakho, Valencia. Subs: Nolan, Kouyate, Vaz Te, O'Brien, Jaaskelainen, Poyet, Cole.
Man City: Hart, Zabaleta, Mangala, Kompany, Clichy, Jesus Navas, Fernando, Toure, Silva, Aguero, Dzeko. Subs: Sagna, Milner, Kolarov, Caballero, Fernandinho, Demichelis, Jovetic.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)
----
9.30 Good morning. Alan Tyers will be here with build-up and team news ahead of this lunch time kick-off that also doubles up as an hors d'oeuvre for El Clasico a little later.
Do return to keep Al happy and feel free to read these words from Mark Noble while you wait:
Mark Noble believes the current West Ham team is the best he has ever played in.
The 27-year-old has enjoyed nine seasons in the Hammers first team since making his Premier League debut in August 2005 and has racked up close to 300 appearances for the club in all competitions.
An excellent start to the season sees Sam Allardyce's side fourth in the table and looking for a third consecutive league victory when they host Manchester City on Saturday.
"Is this the best team I've played in? I'd say so," Noble said.
"I've played in some good teams - when Dean Ashton and Craig Bellamy were scoring goals for us and then there was the team with Carlos Tevez when we stayed up.
"But this is the best start to a season I've had at West Ham - the way we're playing, the results we're getting and the buzz about the place - it's really good at the moment."
Noble added: "It's early days, we're not going to get carried away with being fourth. "We know we're not going to end up there but we're going to try our best to stay as close as possible starting with a massive game on Saturday."
Much of the Hammers' success so far has been down to new strike duo Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia, who have eight goals between them already.
Kevin Nolan was the club's top-scorer in the league last season with seven but Sakho has five already and six in all competitions.
"I've always said in all the teams I've played in if you've got your goal-scorers firing it makes your life a lot easier," Noble said.
"You don't have to play well but you can still win games. Last year we were playing well and not winning and losing when we were playing well.
"This year with the likes of Enner, Sakho, Carlton Cole - and Andy Carroll is back training - the manager has a lot of options.
"The two goals the boys scored the other day against Burnley were proper striker's goals - headers from fantastic crosses and hopefully that continues."
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