Manchester City vs West Ham United. Premier League.
Etihad StadiumAttendance47,189.
Saturday 27 April 2013 18:16, UK
Manchester City returned to winning ways with a 2-1 triumph over West Ham United in their first match since being deposed as Premier League champions.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini was satisfied with his side's performance but felt they could have been more ruthless and won even more convincingly. He said: "It was important to win. I am happy for this victory, but we could have scored four, five or six goals. "We scored a fantastic first goal, but sometimes it is enough to put your foot through the ball. Sometimes we want to be too beautiful." West Ham boss Sam Allardyce took the positives from his team's second-half response but, like Mancini, was left to rue a series of missed opportunities. "We had to improve our play in possession and we persisted to do that throughout the whole game but, as our problem has been all season, for the chances created there are not enough goals scored," he said. "Our second-half performance was pleasing because they are a top-quality team who have spent millions of pounds and we managed to get to their level at times in the second half and cause them a few problems."
