West Ham 0:2 Man City: Premier League Champions Begin Title Defence on Winning Note

• Manchester City began their Premier League title defence on a flying note with a convincing win against West Ham at the London Stadium
• Haaland, who came under scrutiny after City lost in the Community Shield, bagged a brace as the Cityzens secured all three points
• Up next for Pep Guardiola and his charges is a home fixture against newly-promoted AFC Bournemouth on August 13

Manchester City brushed aside their Community Shield disappointment with a comfortable victory at West Ham on Sunday, August 7.

A brace from £51 million summer signing, Erling-Braut Haaland ensured Man City began their title defence on a winning note.

It was West Ham who commenced the fixture in a frenzy, peppering the goal area of the Premier League champions which was repelled by a resolute defence marshalled by Ruben Dias.

The home side could not sustain the early minute pressure as Pep Guardiola's charges neutralized the Hammers with key actors Kevin De Bruyne leading the Man City siege.

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And it was the Belgian attacking midfielder who will have City's first attempt at goal when he found himself in a promising position on the edge of the box only for his effort to scale wide off the post after 15 minutes.

De Bruyne's miss gave City more impetus as the team dominated possession pinning West Ham in their own half.

City's tormentor-in-chief will whip in an inviting cross which will be dealt by Hammers' goalie Fabianski but proved detrimental to the course of West Ham with the Polish shot-stopper writhed in pain before his substitution.

His replacement, Areola will receive a rude awakening when De Bruyne slotted home, however, the Belgian was denied the game's opener with his effort correctly ruled out for offside.

The French goalkeeper will be called to action once again but this time he will be punished for heckling down Erling Haaland with referee Michael Oliver whistling for a penalty.

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The Norwegian will make no mistake as he sent Areola the wrong way to break his goal-scoring duck for Man City.

With no further goal-mouth action, referee Michael Oliver ended the first stanza of the fixture with City going to halftime with a slim lead.

City returned from the break with serious intent to stretch the lead. Sensing danger, David Moyes ringed the changes to add bite to his team with the introduction of summer signing Scamaca and Said Benrahma.

His tactical twitch will yield no dividends as Haaland grabbed his second of the afternoon and City's second, five minutes after the hour mark.

Guardiola ringed in the changes, bringing on Julian Alvarez and Bernado Silva to sustain the pressure and see out the game as Man City snatched three points announce their intentions of winning their third Premier League title on the trot.

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Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Manchester City will look to shrug off their Community Shield defeat to Liverpool last Saturday when they cross swords with West Ham in their opening Premier League game.

Pep Guardiola's charges begin their title defence at the London Stadium, a venue which has proved a difficult hunting ground for the Cityzens in the past three seasons.

The Spanish tactician may have lost Raheem Sterling, Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus but has moved swiftly to replace them with precocious Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, pacy forward Julian Alvarez and Kalvin Philips.