Bilic will hope Simone Zaza’s arrival from Juventus on a season-long loan will give them more of a goal threat.
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The second came after 18 minutes when Kevin De Bruyne whipped in a free kick, Fernandinho rose unmarked and powered home a header from 15 yards.
West Ham were much more aggressive in the second half and, incredibly, were back in a game that looked out of their reach when Caballero was caught all at sea by Arthur Masuaka’s cross and Antonio headed in at the far post just before the hour.
The Hammers’ hopes of repeating last season’s rare win at the Etihad were shattered after seven minutes by a goal that had Guardiola stamped all over it. John Stones dropped into midfield to set David Silva off on a surging run before playing a perfectly weighted pass inside Antonio for Nolito to cut the ball back for Sterling to score with a clinical finish.
“Reborn? I keep seeing that word”, Sterling told the club’s official website.
“Obviously it was a hard first season getting to know the club, but Pep Guardiola has come in and given us a lot of courage”, Sterling told Sky Sports.
City sit at the top of the Premier League table, and in ideal stead for the Manchester Derby in 12 days.
In the meantime, Sterling scored his first goal of the season following a fine move and Fernandinho added his first in the league since the same weekend past year.
“We have players that get into pockets and good with one-twos. After that, it’s his talent”, the Spaniard said.
The Football Association will await Marriner’s report before deciding whether to take action against Aguero but Hammers boss Slaven Bilic played down the matter.
Regarding the Aguero incident, in which the Argentinian seemed to elbow Reid in the neck, Guardiola claimed he did not see it. We wanted to change the shape.
Elsewhere, West Brom manager Tony Pulis was keen to freshen up his squad before the transfer window closes on Wednesday after a forgettable stalemate with Middlesbrough. “We need Ilkay and Sane and all the guys because the guys who play today can not play every three days”.
Boro manager Aitor Karanka was pleased by his newly-promoted side’s first clean sheet of the season as they maintained their unbeaten start to the league campaign after a sluggish start against the Baggies.
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“Of course we can do better”, Guardiola said. “But the second half you could see the weakness in their mentality perhaps, and that saw them succumb a little bit to West Ham’s impetus”.
