West Ham United were battered 5-0 by a Raheem Sterling inspired Manchester City in their Premier League opener at the London Stadium.
Steve Lomas believes West Ham United’s dodgy defence could cost them in the Premier League this season after Saturday’s 5-0 thrashing at home to a rampant Manchester City, speaking to The Sun’s Goals pull-out (12 August, page 9).
When you are up against Pep Guardiola’s title-winning goal machine, the last thing you want to do is to give away needless penalties, get your offside trap horribly wrong and give the outstanding Raheem Sterling a clear run at goal.
Unfortunately, Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham made all of the aforementioned errors as they gifted City a 5-0 win at the London Stadium with Sterling netting a hat-trick alongside further goals from Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus.
The much-admired Issa Diop had a nightmare at the back, conceding a penalty and looking distracted throughout, while even the usually reliable Lukas Fabianski appeared nervy between the sticks.
So Sebastien Haller’s eye-catching debut at centre-forward was understandably overshadowed.
“Pellegrini has bought well and in Haller he has a player who will score goals,” Lomas said. “But there is a fragility in defence.”
West Ham will certainly have easier assignments in their remaining 37 Premier League games but it’s fair to say they made Man City’s task far easier than they needed to in front of their own supporters.
Diop, Fabian Balbuena and co must bounce back and fast.
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