Having secured their place in the EFL cup semi-finals with a sixth straight win in all competitions, City came into their last fixture before Christmas with plenty of confidence.
It didn’t take long for that to translate into a goal, as the in-form Phil Foden picked out Erling Haaland, whose initial left-footed effort was thwarted by Alphonse Areola, only for the rebound to fall kindly for the Norwegian to tuck home on his right.
The hosts were totally dominant throughout the first half, and could have been two ahead had Haaland not mistimed a header.
However, soon after Tijjani Reijnders had seen his strike thwarted, the Dutch international was on the scoresheet, lifting high into the net after a neat City move.
That goal punctuated a half of attack against defence in favour of the home side, leaving the visiting fans disgruntled and voicing their displeasure as the half-time whistle sounded.
A rare West Ham attack offered fledgling hopes of a response after the break, with Jarrod Bowen dragging wide at the end of a promising counter-attack.
However, that opportunity wasn’t the beginning of a second-half revival, and after a period of few chances, the hosts put the game to bed with a third goal in the 69th minute, courtesy of Haaland, who swept home a loose ball inside the box for his 19th PL strike of the season.
Crysencio Summerville forced a save at the near post from Gianluigi Donnarumma soon after, but by then, the match was over as a contest, and Nuno Espírito Santo’s quadruple change would have little bearing on the outcome.
Haaland narrowly missed the chance to net a hat-trick in stoppage time, but another positive result extends City’s unbeaten streak against sides starting the day in the relegation places to 47 matches (W43, D4).
Meanwhile, the Hammers will remain in the drop zone for Christmas – the fifth time that has occurred. Thankfully for West Ham fans, they beat the drop on each of the last two occasions, offering hope again this time around for the 18th-placed side.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
