All bets are off in this season's topsy-turvy Premier League. Manchester City's 11-match winning streak is over and West Ham United have completed a remarkable hat-trick of away wins against Arsenal, Liverpool and now The Etihad.
City are still top but their manager Manuel Pellegrini was in a terrible mood on Saturday night having lost David Silva in the warm-up and then seen his side concede two soft goals in the opening half-hour. It wasn't the bounceback desired from their midweek Champions League disappointment against Juventus.
In contrast, Hammers boss Slaven Bilic was super-bubbly, very apt given the songs coming from the away end at full-time, along with “We're going to win the League”.
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On-loan West Ham forward Victor Moses roars with delight after firing home a stunning low drive in the opening minutes of the match
A view from behind the shot shows Moses' effort fly past Eliaquim Mangala (second right), while Joe Hart is powerless to stop the goal
England's No 1 Hart dives low to his left but is unable to keep Moses' shot out as West Ham take the lead at the Etihad Stadium
Moses (left) is joined by team-mates Dimitri Payet (second left), James Tomkins and Mark Noble (right) to celebrate his opening goal
West Ham's start went from good to great when Diafra Sakho (wearing 15) bundled home inside the penalty area to double the lead
Hart (left) looks frustrated as the West Ham players bundle goalscorer Sakho on the byline at the Etihad Stadium... he made the score 0-2
TEAMS, PLAYER RATINGS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE STATS FROM THE ETIHAD STADIUM
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Hart 6; Sagna 6, Otamendi 6.5, Mangala 6 (Demichelis 45 6.5), Kolarov 6 (Iheancho 85); Fernandinho 5.5, Toure 6; Navas 5.5, De Bruyne 7, Sterling 6.5; Aguero 6
Unused substitutes: Caballero (GK), Maffao, Reges, Roberts, Bony
Goal: De Bruyne 45
Booked: Kolarov
West Ham (4-2-3-1): Adrian 7; Jenkinson 6.5 (Collins 85), Tomkins 7, Reid 8, Cresswell 6.5; Noble 6, Obiang 6; Moses 6.5 (Antonio 60, 6), Lanzini 6 (Jelavic 69 6), Payet 7; Sakho 6.5
Unused substitutes: Randolph (GK), Oxford, Carroll, Zarate
Goal: Moses 6, Sakho 31
Booked: Lanzini, Obiang
Referee: Robert Madley 6
Attendance: 53,545
Man-of-the-match: Winston Reid (West Ham)
'We knew we had to run like crazy, score goals and be lucky when needed. And we did it,' said Bilic.
'This Manchester City team is the best in the league. That is why I am so proud of our team performance. Not only fighting-wise, but also playing-wise.'
Fortune was on West Ham's side. City had 27 shots on goal but could only beat the visitors' outstanding goalkeeper Adrian once.
And having already been without skipper Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta and Samir Nasri, losing Silva and then Eliaquim Mangala at half-time was a severe blow even though they kept piling on the pressure.
Not that there will be sympathy for City in many quarters. They wheeled out Kevin De Bruyne and Nicolas Otamendi at a combined price tag of £86million for their first starts, only for those players to find themselves 2-0 down before they could work out their roles in the team.
'It has been a difficult week,' grimaced a curt Pellegrini. 'I told the players that West Ham would be hard opponents but we conceded two easy goals – we must be more concentrated.'
Manchester City's players stroll back to their positions after conceding a second goal, while goalkeeper Hart sits dejected against the post
Kevin De Bruyne (right) scored his first goal for new club Manchester City to pull one back right at the end of the first half
Adrian (in green) stretched the save the ball but was unable to reach it as Manchester City pulled one back to make the score 1-2
Former Chelsea and Wolfsburg forward De Bruyne (left) lifts a finger as he wheels away in celebration after netting his first Man City goal
| MINS | KM | MILES | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | 116.3 | 72.3 | |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 90 | 13.3 | 8.3 |
| Jesus Navas | 90 | 12.3 | 7.7 |
| Bacary Sagna | 90 | 11.2 | 6.9 |
| West Ham | 123.5 | 76.8 | |
| Mark Noble | 90 | 12.8 | 7.9 |
| Diafra Sakho | 90 | 12.3 | 7.6 |
| Pedro Obiang | 90 | 12.0 | 7.4 |
| Data courtesy of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, the Official Player Rating Index of the Barclays Premier League | |||
The warning signs were there for City even though their domestic winning streak dated back to April and they hadn't even conceded a goal for over nine hours.
West Ham showed at The Emirates and Anfield they are well organised and defend deep, but carry the added threat of counter-attacking at blistering speed.
Silva's injury meant £54m record signing De Bruyne was asked to play as a No10 while Kompany's absence meant Otamendi slotting in alongside Mangala, who himself is just getting used to English football.
Within six minutes, The Hammers were ahead. Dmitri Payet fed Moses on the edge of the box and with nobody in a blue shirt offering a challenge, the on-loan Chelsea forward tried his luck from 20 yards and fired low past Joe Hart.
Just past the half-hour mark, it was 2-0 and again City's wound was self-inflicted. Winston Reid's header from a corner should have been cleared by Fernandinho guarding the far post. Instead, the Brazilian allowed the ball to bounce off his waist and Pedro Obiang hooked in a cross for Diafra Sakho to bundle in from close range despite the attention of Yaya Toure.
It could have been 3-0 shortly before the interval when Sakho burst clear from another Payet path only for Mangala to put in a last-ditch tackle which was either a perfect challenge or a penalty depending on which team you supported.
The let-off gave City, deflated until that point, renewed hope and they produced the best passing sequence of the game in first-half injury-time for De Bruyne to shoot home after good work by Aleksandr Kolarov, Otamendi and Sergio Aguero.
West Ham goalkeeper Adrian enjoyed a brilliant performance at the Etihad, denying the league leaders time and time again
From a corner, Manchester City's new signing Nicolas Otamendi (third right) heads towards goal from his position towards the back post
Spanish goalkeeper Adrian (in green) produced perhaps the save of the night to spectacularly tip Otamendi's header over his crossbar
Adrian again came to the rescue when Sergio Aguero - who had an off-day at the Etihad - was put through on goal in the second half
Last season, Aguero would have been the catalyst for a great City comeback. But since swapping his No 16 shirt for No 10, the Argentine seems to have lost a little of his powers and he only has one goal this season.
Toure grew more into the game and bulldozed over the Hammers' backline on a couple of occasions but shaved the far post with one shot and was bravely denied by Adrian on another occasion.
City threw more money at it, £28million striker Wilfried Bony, but Adrian superbly tipped over an Otamendi header in the final moments to keep West Ham's advantage intact.
West Ham have now won away matches against Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal under the stewardship of Slaven Bilic this season
West Ham captain Mark Noble (top) celebrates with forward Payet seconds after the referee's full-time whistle at the Etihad Stadium
Noble then made his way over to the travelling West Ham supporters, raising his arms in celebration at the impressive result
At the back, Winston Reid and James Tomkins made a season's worth of blocks and clearances.
'It is a surprise result to be honest, but we didn't nick it,' said Bilic. 'If they'd scored an equaliser, fair enough. But we had chances at 2-0, 2-1.'
Expectation is already growing among the West Ham fans particularly with Norwich City and Sunderland up next but the manager isn't falling for that.
'There is a tiny line between confidence and arrogance. It is hard not to get carried away a little bit, but that is also part of my job and my staff's job to keep it under control.
Battered and bruised but ultimately delighted, West Ham players embrace at the full-time whistle after their third away win of the season
Pre-match, West Ham manager Bilic (left) and his counterpart Manuel Pellegrini were all smiles as they embraced in the dugout
West Ham co-owners David Gold (left) and David Sullivan (right) watch on from their seats at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester
'Where is it going to take us? I don't know but it should be good!'
At least Pellegrini won't have to answer any more questions about how long City's winning run will go on for.
To be fair to the Chilean, he has never subscribed to the view that the title is won in the autumn.
'We never believed we would be champions because we won five games. Nobody could believe that.' he said. 'We haven't played with the intensity and concentration in our last two games.'
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