MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City have won their first league game of the calendar year in the previous 12 seasons, so in that sense, their 4-1 win over West Ham United was no great surprise.
But this is no normal season for Pep Guardiola’s team. Usually, City have started January with eyes fixed on the Premier League title. This time it’s less about setting new records and more about salvaging something from the campaign.
After 2024 ended with two wins from 14 games, Guardiola has been keen to tell everyone that a fifth straight Premier League title is beyond his players. With Liverpool clear at the top, that might be true. But against West Ham, City began 2025 with a flash of their old ruthlessness.
Savinho was outstanding and made three of the four goals. Erling Haaland, meanwhile, showed again that he is still one of the best goalscorers in the world, finding the net twice to pass 20 goals in all competitions for the season. The performance was far from perfect, but for the first time since October, City have won back-to-back games. Guardiola has set his standards so high that he still wasn’t particularly pleased, although he welcomed the respite of a positive result.
“We saw in many years our level and we are not at our level,” said Guardiola.
“We won. I am so happy and it helps us. You judge the results, our performance was not good. When we play good, we know we play good.”
If City are going to win anything this season — the UEFA Champions League, maybe, or the FA Cup — it will be because of how they attack and not how they defend. West Ham were beaten comfortably at the Etihad Stadium, but as Julen Lopetegui stood on the touchline and was serenaded by chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” from the home fans, he would have been forgiven for feeling hard done by.
In the early stages, Crysencio Summerville repeatedly picked up the ball in midfield and swept it out to the right. There, Mohammed Kudus gave Josko Gvardiol a torrid first 15 minutes and West Ham should have scored twice before City fashioned a chance of their own. Lopetegui’s team — who didn’t manage an effort on target during their 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool to end 2024 — had 17 shots at Stefan Ortega‘s goal.
In the end, they only had Niclas Füllkrug‘s goal in the 71st minute to show for it and by that time West Ham were already 4-0 down. City have conceded more goals than any of the top six and it’s that defensive vulnerability which will make the rest of the season a struggle.
“It’s not easy today to explain the match,” said Lopetegui.
“We deserved more. It’s not easy to say that when you lose 4-1. We didn’t take advantage of our clear situations. We did some positive things but we didn’t take advantage when we were better and City have very high-quality players.”
Facing players like Savinho and Haaland is always problematic for opposition managers. Savinho scored his first City goal at Leicester City last weekend and against West Ham, he looked like a player relishing the freedom of having that particular pressure off his back.
He made the first goal when his cross was deflected in off Vladimír Coufal. Then, his trickery and skill in setting up Haaland’s first goal drew “ooohhs” and “ahhhs” from the fans when it was replayed on the big screen. His second assist of the day — again to Haaland — consisted of a clever run inside and a delicate pass through West Ham’s backline. He went off late on to a standing ovation and deservedly won man of the match.
“He’s clean in his mind,” said Guardiola.
“He doesn’t think nothing in his head in the past. These kind of crosses help the striker we have.
“He has a lot to improve. Not aggressive enough without the ball, a little bit soft in many departments. But right now has something special and brilliant that help a lot for the team.
“He scores a goal, a bit lucky, but the two assists are brilliant. I’m so happy for him and he deserves to play.”
Sat in his post-match news conference, Guardiola bristled at a question about whether the result against West Ham shows that City “are back.”
“I’m very pleased with the result but you cannot ask me if the old Manchester City is back,” he snapped back.
“If you saw the game we are not. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m so happy. If you ask me is the team playing like it has played years ago? No, absolutely not.”
In the absence of that old swagger, City will have to find a way to win if they want to end the season with silverware. They did just that against West Ham.
Savinho and Haaland, in particular, showed that Guardiola still has the players to score goals at one end even if City lack the defensive cohesion to keep them out at the other. They might not be back, but a positive second half of the season is not out of the question.
