On 29th April 2018 Manchester City came to the London Stadium to display their dominance in a season they were run away champions achieving 100 points, with Manchester United trailing in 2nd place on 81points. It was a season where the champions achieved the highest ever points tally within a season and the biggest points gap from a second placed team.
Moyes was in his first stint as the gaffer at West Ham where we finished 13th on 42 points, not enough to retain Moyes as manager in a season of few positives. A run of better results in January and 2 wins and a draw in our last three matches of the season secured our Premier League status for a 6th consecutive season after promotion in 2012.
West Ham were defeated 4-1 five times in that season and after Arsenal’s win over us the game at London Stadium against Manchester City held little hope in the final run in for the end of the season. The outcome could have easily been predicted.
The players did not graft in this match and despite Cresswell’s curled free kick beyond Ederson, a series of defensive mishaps and a Zabaleta own goal piled on the misery as Raheem Sterling inspired City towards their title and 100 league goals in 35 matches.
What a different story to the 1-1 draw at the London Stadium against a City side struggling to get started this season with just 8 points from their first 5 games. Contrast that with the Hammers achieving 8 points from their last 4 games that also include impressive wins against Wolves and Leicester and the amazing comeback from 0-3 down away to Spurs.
Antonio’s impressive over head kick to open the scoring was just another excellent moment we almost expect from a player who has transformed into a goal scoring machine since lockdown restart. Hammers had to work hard for their point with City peppering the home goal and enjoying 70% possession. In fact if you compare stats between these two matches their are very similar. City did everything except score another goal, with Foden’s equaliser the only reward.
Is this is different West Ham we are seeing this season? We can certainly enjoy talking about impressive player performances rather than soak in the misery of another poor result. We are certainly proving to be harder to beat even when we are 0-3 down away. Only time will tell but even at this early stage of the season there seem to be some very encouraging signs with a team prepared to fight for the result and hold on until the end for a point – or even to get a point with the final kick of the game.
Be safe everyone
From the Stands 