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Three Key Takeaways: Citizens Roll Past West Ham 4-0

By Larry Henry

Manchester City's Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus (R) celebrates scoring his team's third goal with Manchester City's Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Manchester City at The London Stadium, in east London on February 1, 2017. / AFP / Glyn KIRK / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)
Manchester City's Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus (R) celebrates scoring his team's third goal with Manchester City's Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Manchester City at The London Stadium, in east London on February 1, 2017. / AFP / Glyn KIRK / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Manchester City’s German midfielder Leroy Sane (C) vies with West Ham United’s English midfielder Mark Noble (L) and West Ham United’s New Zealand defender Winston Reid during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Manchester City at The London Stadium, in east London on February 1, 2017. / AFP / Glyn KIRK / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images)
Manchester City’s German midfielder Leroy Sane (C) vies with West Ham United’s English midfielder Mark Noble (L) and West Ham United’s New Zealand defender Winston Reid during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Manchester City at The London Stadium, in east London on February 1, 2017. / AFP / Glyn KIRK / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read GLYN KIRK/AFP/Getty Images) /

Manchester City earned a crucial league victory on Wednesday after they soundly defeated West Ham United 4-0 at London Stadium.

Pep Guardiola‘s side were looking to take advantage of other top six sides dropping points during their matches on Tuesday and Wednesday. West Ham looked to avenge a 5-0 F.A. Cup defeat to the Citizens back in early January.

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A dominating start by Manchester City saw them up 1-0 after 17 minutes. A quick counter-attack was capped off by a smooth finish off the foot of Kevin De Bruyne. Gabriel Jesus found the Belgian wide-open heading towards the center of the box, and the Belgian made no mistake. Four minutes later, City were causing problems again.

This time, David Silva finished off a loose ball inside the West Ham box for a 2-0 City advantage. Leroy Sane‘s superb run down the flank allowed for the Spaniard to tap home.

City’s first-half dominance continued just before halftime as Jesus netted his first goal for the club. In the 39th minute, the Brazilian tapped home a cross from Raheem Sterling for a 3-0 lead.

Yaya Toure capped off an excellent performance by the team in the 67th minute, scoring from the penalty spot. Sterling was tackled by Hammers’ defender Jose Fonte which gave City the opportunity.

At the final whistle, Manchester City had an important 4-0 win to equal them on points with fourth-place Liverpool. Defensively, Manchester City held West Ham to only one effort on-goal, while creating four chances for the four goals.

Following the match, Pep Guardiola told BBC Sport how excited he was for the future of the club. “Our high pressing was good. We were so aggressive without the ball. Gabriel Jesus is a fighter with instinct for the goal. He’s good at assists too. We played a front three with an average age of 20. I like the fans to be excited. Those players are the future of the club. Leroy Sane had some problems at the beginning but now he’s settled. They will be important players for the next few years.”

After a much-deserved victory away from home, here are my three key takeaways from the match.

1.) Gabriel Jesus impresses yet again.
The Brazilian wonderkid made a strong impression against Tottenham and Crystal Palace already. In his first Premier League start, many were excited to see what Jesus could do. An assist on City’s opening goal was a strong start, while he also tapped home his first goal for the club as well. The quick impression by Jesus on Pep has also forced the manager into bringing the Brazilian into the Champions League squad. His presence is making a difference to the team and is forcing Sergio Aguero to take a backseat to the action. Going forward, I feel Pep needs to play Aguero and Jesus together to create the best attacking option for the team.

2.) The high-pressure of the team was superb from beginning to end. 
Pep Guardiola praised his side’s pressure without the ball during Wednesday’s victory. I have to agree with him that seeing City dominate in possession and not with possession was great to see. Their pressure forced plenty of West Ham turnovers, and gave them a 3-0 lead going into halftime. I feel if Manchester City can give this effort on a match-by-match basis, then they can still have something to say in this Premier League title race.

3.) Defensively, Manchester City weren’t forced into much action. 
For Manchester City to be successful during the second half of this season, they need to be consistent defensively. On Wednesday, they only had to deal with one real effort by West Ham’s attackers, keeping them frustrated for the entire 90 minutes. John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi started together in the back-line again, and overall did a good job against a tricky West Ham side. Going forward, they should start together while Vincent Kompany also gets some playing time to return to full fitness.

Next: Will Joe Hart get the chance to return to Manchester City this summer?

Manchester City have a quick turn-around and host Swansea City at the Etihad on Sunday. They look to provide more pressure on the remaining teams in the Barclays Premier League title race.