Manchester City's 100 percent start to the 2015-16 Premier League season came to a shock end as West Ham United won 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
Having won their opening five matches of the campaign without
conceding a goal, City were stunned by a West Ham team who have also
triumphed at Arsenal and Liverpool this term.
West Ham took a surprise lead on six minutes when Victor Moses, on
loan from Chelsea, received the ball from Dimitri Payet before thumping
in a low shot past goalkeeper Joe Hart from around 25 yards out.
Slaven Bilic's Hammers doubled their lead on 31 minutes when Diafra
Sakho bundled the ball home from close range after City's defence failed
to deal with a corner.
City pulled a goal back just before half-time when Kevin De Bruyne
scored his first City goal since his £54 million transfer from
Wolfsburg, the Belgium international driving low from outside the area
But Manuel Pellegrini's league leaders were unable to find an
equaliser as the Hammers stayed strong at the back, with goalkeeper
Adrian particularly impressive.
De Bruyne was left to rue the way City began the game, telling the BBC: "We didn't start well, conceding two goals with the two chances they fashioned.
"After
that we created lots of chances, and 2-1 was a good place to be at
half-time -- but in the second half our final ball wasn't good enough.
"We
knew they would have 10 men behind the ball and we would have to be
patient, but unfortunately we couldn't score the second one."
Belgium
international De Bruyne said Manuel Pellegrini's City "were still
confident we could change the game" as they began the second half.
"We tried everything, but the final pass wasn't that good," he added.
"It
was a shame to lose three points and we wanted to win after the
[Champions League] defeat to Juventus. I don't think we played badly,
but we have to move on."
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said he was
"happy with how I am integrating," adding: "In a few weeks, when I am
settled, it will be even better for me.
"I tried to do everything today to help the team, but it wasn't enough today."
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