West Ham United vs Manchester City. Premier League.
London StadiumAttendance56,904.
Monday 30 April 2018 00:09, UK
Manchester City's title-winning campaign reached new heights as a 4-1 victory at West Ham saw them smash through the 100-goal mark en route to a record-equalling 30th win.
Leroy Sane opened the scoring for the visitors at the London Stadium with a deflected 13th-minute strike before a calamitous Pablo Zabaleta own goal in the 27th minute saw City become the first club in Premier League history to hit a century of goals in two seasons.
Aaron Cresswell halved the deficit on 42 minutes with a sumptuous free-kick, but goals from Gabriel Jesus (53) and Fernandinho (64) saw City re-establish control and equal their highest goals tally in a Premier League campaign.
City need just one win and two more goals from their remaining three games to set the record for the most wins in a Premier League season and to surpass Chelsea's record goals tally of 103.
West Ham remain 15th in the table, three points clear of the relegation zone, after a defeat which leaves boss David Moyes with three games to secure their top-flight status.
With survival yet to be secured, the Hammers were cautious in the opening exchanges but their reluctance to go after the champions proved costly as Sane's curling effort took a wicked deflection off Patrice Evra on its way past a stricken Adrian in the home goal.
That kicked West Ham into gear as Manuel Lanzini drew a save from Ederson, but City were soon two to the good as a Declan Rice error, for the second week running, saw him turn the ball into the back of the net off former City defender Zabaleta.
The linesman came to Ederson's rescue on 39 minutes when Marko Arnautovic's effort was ruled out for a foul on the City 'keeper as he dithered in possession in his area, but West Ham soon found the net.
After Ilkay Gundogan's foul on Edimilson Fernandes was incorrectly adjudged to have been outside the area, Cresswell whipped the resulting free-kick over the City wall to give West Ham hope before half-time.
That hope was extinguished within eight minutes of the restart, though, as Jesus released Raheem Sterling in behind before gathering the England forward's cross, skipping inside Zabaleta and firing past Adrian from close range.
An apparent blatant foul by Cresswell on Sterling in the area went unpunished on 58 minutes, but City wrapped up their victory when Fernandinho converted their fourth on 64 minutes from Sterling's precise cross.
Sterling enjoyed the freedom of the London Stadium down the right flank behind Cresswell. The England forward teed up Jesus for City's third and Fernandinho for a classy fourth to seal an emphatic victory for the champions.
Had he had his shooting boots on, the records that City will pursue before the end of the season would have been broken with games to spare, but Sterling's performance was still exemplary.
West Ham travel to Leicester on Saturday before hosting Manchester United in their penultimate game of the season on April 10, live on Sky Sports. Manchester City, meanwhile, will lift the Premier League trophy after their Nissan Super Sunday clash with Huddersfield.
