Erling Haaland double sinks West Ham as Manchester City put heat on Arsenal

Manchester City will be top on Christmas Day if Arsenal fail to win at Everton in Saturday’s late game. Even if that does not happen, there is a forbidding relentlessness to City that should scare Arsenal as they seek to end the sequence of three consecutive runners-up finishes.

Erling Haaland scored twice and Tijjani Reijnders once as West Ham were swatted aside, losing to City for the seventh time in a row after conceding at least three goals in the past six meetings.

After the break City’s control slipped, yet the bottom line is they are, once more, ruthless, so who would bet against the Gunners being thwarted again?

Nico González is a smooth replacement for Rodri, Phil Foden sparkles most games, Rayan Cherki is a box of tricks and Haaland is a killer in front of goal.

Six straight wins in all competitions faced off against zero in five in the league. Factor in West Ham’s previous victory over the hosts being in September 2015 (a 2-1 away win) and Nuno Espírito Santo’s iteration were seeking to bridge a 21-game gap to their club’s last triumph over City.

Inside five minutes the task became harder. The constant passing of those in sky blue is a form of torment as it hammers away constantly, foes weaken, and next comes a knockout blow.

Erling Haaland scores Manchester City’s first goal past a despairing dive from Alphonse Areola. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Action Images/Reuters

This is how Haaland opened festivities. Constant possession from kick-off wore down those in claret. Then Foden swapped passes with González on the left and rolled the ball to the striker, who unloaded. Alphonse Areola beat the ball inadvertently back to him and a thunderous right boot made no mistake.

A rout loomed and seconds later Cherki dropped the ball on to Haaland’s head from the right. But for once the marksman’s radar was awry.

West Ham were confined to the game City enforce on plenty of opponents: playing chase-ball and hoping to prosper from a counterattack. An instant Lucas Paquetá free-kick punted in behind and aimed for Jarrod Bowen was misdirected, so Josko Gvardiol headed back for Gianluigi Donnarumma to collect, yet it drew a clap from the England forward for being the right idea.

So, too, was the quick-quick Cherki relay into Reijnders that suddenly put the midfielder in; the effort went hard to Areola’s right and a diving mid-height save impressed.

As did Cherki’s contribution for Reijnders goal. With John Travolta-esque feet he prised the Hammers apart and tapped the ball to Haaland in the area. He did the same to Reijnders a foot away and the Dutchman’s shot bulged the roof of the net.

West Ham fans protest against Karren Brady and David Sullivan. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA

An easy period for City ended with Pep Guardiola putting his arms between his assistant, Pep Lijnders, and the officials, for who knows what reason. The manager will have been displeased too at the space allowed Mateus Fernandes to line up a shot from long range as the second half began. The Portuguese blazed high – the attempt as insipid as Rúben Dias’s pitter-pat header straight into the busy Areola’s hands moments later.

Guardiola’s nose for when his unit slackens off led to a rollicking for Foden. Cut to Bowen rounding Donnarumma on the left and hitting the side-netting, then rolling just wide, seconds after, from the other side.

On 65 minutes, Guardiola made a triple change that reaped an instant dividend. Cherki, González and Reijnders went off for Rico Lewis, Abdukodir Khusanov and Savinho. Done to jolt City from a second-half torpor, it worked.

Savinho fed Lewis, who tapped the ball sideways towards Haaland. It reached him via a defensive mix-up involving Jean-Clair Todibo and Kyle Walker-Peters, and he rifled his second goal home.

Crysencio Summerville did force a Donnarumma save and that was about it for West Ham. There was still time, at the death, for Haaland to miss narrowly a chance to complete a hat-trick. The contest ended as a third clean sheet in three league matches for City.