Pep Guardiola's City overcoming a lively Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium, while Nuno Espirito Santo celebrated his first win as West Ham boss against an out-of-sorts Newcastle United in London.
Haaland Double Fires City Past Brave Bournemouth
Manchester City returned to winning ways in the Premier League after a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium, maintaining their perfect home record in this fixture and moving up to second in the table.
After last week's loss at Aston Villa, Pep Guardiola demanded a reaction, and his side delivered. Bournemouth thought they had made a dream start when Eli Kroupi turned in David Brooks' cross inside the first minute, only for VAR to rule him offside. City responded swiftly, and it took until the 17th minute for Erling Haaland to make his mark. The Norwegian latched onto Rayan Cherki's headed pass from a dinked ball by Nico Gonzalez and ran half the pitch to tuck a shot under Djordje Petrovic to give the champions the lead.
Bournemouth, however, refused to crumble. Tyler Adams equalised in the 25th minute after a corner from David Brooks. Gianluigi Donnarumma was adjudged to have been fouled by Brooks, but VAR confirmed no infringement, prompting the City keeper to be booked for his reaction, allowing the American to rifle home from close range.
City appealed for a penalty shortly after when Bernardo Silva's cross struck Alex Jimenez's leg and hand, but it was not given. But City's ruthless striker struck again soon after, with Cherki playing Haaland into space for the Norwegian to round Petrovic and score his 13th league goal of the season.
After the break, Bournemouth pushed for another equaliser, with Donnarumma denying Kroupi from the penalty spot. City eventually killed the contest in the 60th minute when Phil Foden, on his 200th league appearance, laid the ball off for Nico O'Reilly, who took a touch and rolled a low shot into the far corner for his first goal of the season. The Cherries' early energy faded, and City comfortably saw out the remaining minutes to move within touching distance of top spot.
Botman Own Goal Sums Up Newcastle's Misery in Hammers' Breakthrough Win
West Ham United claimed their first victory under Nuno Espirito Santo, defeating Newcastle United 3-1 at the London Stadium to end a frustrating run and deepen the visitors' troubles on the road.
The Magpies struck first in the fourth minute when Jacob Murphy cut inside from a Bruno Guimaraes pass, after Max Kilman was caught out of position, and slotted a superb effort into the bottom corner. West Ham thought they had a penalty midway through the first half when Jarrod Bowen was brought down by Malick Thiaw, but referee Rob Jones overturned the decision after a VAR review showed Thiaw had touched the ball first, awarding a drop ball to Newcastle instead.
Undeterred, the hosts grew into the game and were rewarded shortly before half-time when Lucas Paqueta's long-distance strike, after Nick Pope punched a clearance straight to him, beat the keeper at his near post. Their pressure paid further dividends in stoppage time when Sven Botman turned Aaron Wan-Bissaka's cross into his own net to hand West Ham a 2-1 lead.
Eddie Howe made a triple substitution at the break, but Newcastle lacked precision and struggled to threaten Alphonse Areola. Any hopes of a comeback were dashed late on when Tomas Soucek slid in to wrap up the points from Jarrod Bowen's rebound in added time, capping off a memorable first win for Nuno and a confidence-boosting performance ahead of next weekend's clash with Burnley.
For Newcastle, the defeat stretched their winless away run to eight league matches, leaving Howe with more questions than answers before their midweek Champions League tie.
