WEst Ham vs Man Citeh -- November 24th, 2018

and welcome back to me... looks like you've all been right busy keeping up with the match commentaries in my absence...

tried to get up on time this morning... set the alarms, woke up bleary-eyed... but couldn't quite get the are out of bed... so I'm about 20 minutes behind catching up via the DVR - so no spoilers... right?

Now the pointless international break is out of the way - hopefully Arnie will have had the time to recuperate.

Noble is over his suspension - Carroll is apparently in contention for a subs place

and we all know how well we've done against Kippax Cat's team in recent years... a grand total of one West Ham goal to 13 of theirs...

yes, this could turn out to be right old shit show...

nice to see Diangana getting regular first team experience...

Antonio starts

and on 6 minutes we finally win a corner to stop the continual City pressure...

corner goes nowhere and City back on the attack with a poor defensive clearance by Anderson allowing a close range shot which fortunately is just outside the post...

9 minutes gone and City conceded a 2nd corner

and there you have it...

Anderson fucks up the short corner and City easily take possession... pass the ball all the way up the park and then side foot it into the net from a yard out...

maybe I should go back to bed

I know we're playing the best team in the land...

I know we're not very good...

but come on...

there's ways to lose a game with dignity and pride and then there's the way we do it...

Fabianski was out sharply there to clean up after the offside trap was well and truly beaten...


but it's all Man City, all day at the moment...

fortunately Aguaro balloons that shot into space...

Brightno have gone a goal up a t home....

no one else has conceded a goal (except LC at BHA)

but we can't even get possession of the ball.

and there it is again...

the defense sliced wide open and the ball played into an empty net past a stranded keeper...

19 minutes gone and we're 2 down.

That means any kind of victory for either Burnley or Newcastle tomorrow when they play each other will put them above us as our 2 goal cushion is now gone...

wow... who'd have thunk it...

2 West Ham attacks in as many minutes....

Antonio runs down the wing, trips on the ball and by doing so inadvertently plays it into the path of Arnie whose hastily taken shot hits a City player up the arsenal and is safely gathered by the keeper...

Then some how ego on the attack but the shot is cleared away...

The corner (unsurprisingly) goes nowhere...

Obiang makes a clumsy sprawling attempt to head the ball into the net but misses it... all from a nice Anderson cross as he battle for the ball down on the wing

of course, all way too little too late and nothing to show for any of it... we're still 0-2 at home.

Half the 1st Half gone and it really is all one way traffic...

and we just don't seem to be the team who can muster a dimnatating 2nd half comeback

I think this is the frustrating thing about us...

Yes... City are the table toppers...

but it just feels like there are some games that we just decide to conceded before we even get out of the dressing room.

We've beaten teams this good

We're competed against teams this good

We've lost but played well

None of that's happening here.

It all feels and looks like we've agreed with City that they won't beat us too savagely if we promise not to try to compete with them...
all of which makes the game kinda pointless (especially for us)

well, the fast forward button game into play as I figured I'd catch up with reality at half time...

33 minutes and City put the ball in there net again... another close-range dink into the net with the keeper stranded...

not sure we could make it any easier for them if we hadn't bothered to get out of bed...

40 minutes... free kick to WHUFC

Anderson and Arnie conferring over it like there's actually some chance of them doing somehting creative with it...

and I guess they do... as the ball creatively cannons off the wall and goes nowhere except back to City...

Well I'm all caught up now...

all three goals came from inside the 6 yard box... each one wrong footing the defense and the keeper... the only real difference between them is that they got three players on the scoresheet... other than that they were basically the same goal given away the same way...

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

If you're wondering why I change me avatar, it's cos to celebrate Black Friday over here in the States, Severin Films is doing a limited edition release of the first film I ever wrote...

It's a region free disc so even peoples in jolly olde england can watch it...

it's the full, uncut movie in a brand new 4k scan of the original camera negative - and there's an interview with yours truly among the special features...

anyway... back to business...

no changes for the start of the 2nd half...

we could easily lose this by 5 or 6...

Fabianski makes a great low save as a Man City player finds himself alone and unmarked inside the 6 but shoots at the keeper instead on into the net....

but the first couple of minutes of half two are all City...

54 minutes... diangana comes off to be replaced by Chicharito...

helps save the youngster from being on the end of a hammering and gives Chicharito no chance to do anything really...

oh for the love of christmas...

beautiful long cross field ball finds Antonio in full stride... races towards the city goal... lets off a rocket of a shot....



and...

hits the outside of the post and it goes out for a goal kick...

67 minutes gone and Anderson comes off to be replaced by Lucas Perez...

not sure why either team are putting up any kind charade that this game is still a going concern for anyone....

75 minutes - arnie battles down the flank to win a corner...

At least Anderson isn't still on there to fupp it up...

Cresswell's kick is at least in the right area but Balbuena's cross goal header unfortunately does exactly that and goes across the goal and nowhere near it...

ten minutes to go as Aguero trudges off... I guess we should be grateful that City decided not to compete in the 2nd half and save us from a right old thrashing...

great... just when you think this had petered out to nothing... Arnie goes down under the most innocuous challenge and is flat on the ground receiving treatment...

he's back up on his feet now but it doesn't look good...

I mean... it looks okay... he's jogging around but given his injuries recently... it scares the shit out of you when he's the player who goes down...

this game is such a corker I can't even find a mention of it from the 2nd half on the Guardian's live stream texts

at least dear old Auntie Beeb remembers we're still playing...


"8:33
CLOSE!
West Ham 0-3 Man City
West Ham have not given up and have improved vastly in this second half, their finishing has not been the best though.

Aaron Cresswell swings in a corner which Fabian Valbuena meets, but he nods his effort wide of the far post."