Match Review : The Hammers hand a death-blow to the Cityzens

Manchester City were shell-shocked after a 5-3 defeat to West Ham in penalties.This was their first defeat after five years in the Carabao Cup as the Defending Champions bowed out in the round of the last 16.

City commenced the clash after having several changes in the starting 11 which played at the AMEX Stadium, owing to Pep Guardiola’s rotation policy with the likes of Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Joao Cancelo, and Gabriel Jesus warming the bench.

Both teams shared the spoils in the opening moments, but City were inching ahead with every minute as the ball was hovering constantly around the West Ham third of the field. Finally, City almost broke the shackles in the 35th minute when a volley from Ilkay Gundogan was smashed away by Riyad Mahrez.

Nathan Ake’s header in the dying moments of the first half was Cityzen’s best bet in the first half, but it was off-target and edged past the woodwork. Though it was 0-0 at the break, Guardiola’s men were head and shoulders above the hosts and a goal was around the corner.

The second half was no short of action up until the hour mark as both the teams set the ball up and running . Cole Palmer’s cross in the 55th minute wasn’t far from handing the visitors a one-goal lead but the German Midfielder spilled it far off target.

On the flip side, the Hammers set the ball rolling towards the Skyblues’s backline but Zack Steffen was rock-solid in front of City’s post. Alphonso Areola was the savior in the second half as far as the hosts were concerned with his heroics preventing City from running away with the match.

As both the teams were unable to score in the allotted time, the match was to be decided by penalties.With the odds heavily stacked against West Ham, Manchester City were looking firm favorites for a quarterfinal spot.

Phil Foden missing the first spot-kick meant that city were left with a daunting task ahead of them. The Hammers though, were absolutely ruthless as they managed to score on all five occasions, terminating a record unbeaten streak set up by the Defending champions in the Carabao Cup in the process.