Following the Manchester City win against West Ham United at the Etihad I caught up with @adamsmiiith the site expert at Green St Hammers
Man City Square: I thought West Ham played well against Manchester City and just seemed to be lacking a cutting edge up front. I think you had one chance in the game? What do you think of West Hams performance?
Green St Hammers: West Ham set out to do one thing in this match, and that was to frustrate a deep and elite City offense. It was mission accomplished in that sense, so I can’t hold much against the limited offense West Ham had.
Man City Square: We peppered Fabianski a bit and his goal seemed to be leading a charmed life. It wasn’t so much great goalkeeping as we just struggled to find the final touch. How do you think you did to withstand the onslaught?
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Green St Hammers: City did have seven shots on goal but none of them seemed to really stress Fabianski other than Silva’s second-half attempt. As usual, Fabianski was great and West Ham owe him a lot of respect this season. It could have been much worse without him.
Man City Square : We brought Bernardo and Sterling on to provide some impetus after 55 minutes and it worked as you were less comfortable with us running at pace into the area. The penalty incident was right in front of where I stand, and I thought it looked a penalty. I also thought Aguero was fouled for a penalty moments before. What was your view of the key incident?
Green St Hammers: It’s never a penalty in any game. Anderson pulled out of the challenge and touched Silva on his back as he slowed down. No leg contact. No tackling. No pushing. Silva felt the need to drop to the ground and subsequently a penalty was given. It’s all to be expected from a team outside of the top-6, so West Ham fans will live with the injustice and move on.
Man City Square: Did you notice how tired we became? I thought we did well to see out the result but all told we restricted you to maybe one chance and we did well with all the second balls. Did you think you deserved a result from the game?
Green St Hammers: City came out attacking, West Ham came out defending – the game was settled on a questionable (at best) penalty decision, so I do think West Ham deserved something from the game. West Ham executed their game plan well, not including the first ten minutes, so it does feel like a point dropped.
Man City Square: Zaba came on to a very warm reception. What did you think about that from a West Ham point of view? Some Hammers I spoke with afterwards were not happy about it feeling Pellegrini was more interested in getting Zaba a good send off than winning. I thought Zaba was on to thwart Bernardo though, What was your view?
Green St Hammers: It certainly was a substitution made by the heart not the brain, but both Zabaleta and Pellegrini are Manchester City men so I understand. I don’t think debutant Ben Johnson did much wrong in this match to get replaced, but Fredericks was far too important to take off so Johnson was sacrificed. I’m not too sure on the performance, though, as Zab got skinned quite a few times…
Keep your eyes peeled for Part 2 of this discussion as we move onto the legacy of Pelligrini and what Zaba means for us.