Premier League Round-up | Manchester City thrash West Ham 4-0; United held at home

02/02/2017

After taking just one point in their last two EPL games, Manchester City returned to winning ways with a 4-0 hammering of West Ham United at the Olympic Stadium in London. Meanwhile, Manchester United could only muster a goalless draw against a resolute Hull City at Old Trafford.

West Ham United 0 - 4 Manchester City

Following the results of the previous day, where every team in the top-four dropped points, City needed a win to get their league campaign back on track and they did it in some style against West Ham, who were on a two-game winning streak of their own. Pep Guardiola opted to leave out star striker Sergio Aguero on the bench for young Gabriel Jesus. The 19-year-old repaid his manager's faith when he played a one-two with Kevin de Bruyne who handed City the lead 17 minutes into the game.

The Manchester side doubled their lead four minutes later when Leroy Sane beat two defenders and his deflected cross fell at the feet of David Silva. City completed an impressive first half display when Raheem Sterling set up Jesus to score his first goal for the club. Yaya Toure completed the scoring for the day with a penalty to put his side level on points with Liverpool, who still lead thanks to their better goal difference.

"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," Guardiola said after the match.

"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."

Manchester United 0 - 0 Hull City

After beating Hull City in a two-legged tie in the EFL Cup, United entered the match at Old Trafford as favorites and had a chance to come within just 2 points of fourth-placed Liverpool. However, it turned out to be anything but an easy game for the Manchester side. Hull shot stopper Eldin Jakupovic made a string of impressive saves to keep star-studded United at bay, earning his team a valuable point at Old Trafford.

The home side dominated the proceedings right from the start, but were restricted to shots from distance by the Hull backline. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's strike from almost 30 yards was the first real chance that United created in the first half but that was well saved by Jakupovic, who turned the ball behind for a corner. The best chance of the half, however, fell to Paul Pogba, who was played through on goal by the Swede, but the Frenchman's shot was right at the Hull keeper.

In the second half, Jakupovic continued to frustrate United as he kept stopping everything that United could throw at him. In the 73rd minute, Jakupovic made the best save of the match when he prevented Juan Mata from scoring from two yards out. In added time, a Pogba curler appeared to be headed into the top corner but the Hull shot-stopper was in no mood to hand United any easy points. The visitors had a chance to snatch all three points in the dying minutes of the match, but Lazar Markovic's shot came back off the post and Abel Hernandez was unable to test David de Gea when he was released one-on-one with the United No 1.

"We didn't score. You don't score, it is not possible to win. Their goalkeeper was good. We needed to score, we needed more time to play. If you played 35-40 minutes in both halves, it is a lot. I think Hull City tried to see where they could go, the way they could behave and tried to see what the referee would allow them to do," a disgruntled Jose Mourinho said after the match.

In the final match of the game week, Peter Crouch's 100th Premier League was cancelled out by a Ryan Shawcross own goal as Stoke City and Everton split points.

Premier League Round-up | Manchester City thrash West Ham 4-0; United held at home

West Ham United 0 - 4 Manchester City

Manchester United 0 - 0 Hull City

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