Manchester City cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory over West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium today, December 20, 2025. The win marked City’s seventh consecutive victory across all competitions and briefly moved them to the top of the Premier League table. For West Ham, the result compounded their recent struggles, ensuring the Hammers will spend Christmas Day in the relegation zone after their tenth defeat of the season.
The hosts wasted no time establishing dominance, taking the lead just five minutes into the match. Erling Haaland opened the scoring by reacting quickest to his own rebound; after his initial effort from a Phil Foden cross was parried by Alphonse Areola, the Norwegian striker swept the ball home. City continued to monopolize possession throughout the first half, leaving West Ham without a single shot on goal before the interval.
City doubled their advantage in the 38th minute through a well-worked team move involving summer signing Tijjani Reijnders. Rayan Cherki dispossessed the Hammers in a dangerous area and fed Haaland, who unselfishly squared the ball for Reijnders. The Dutch midfielder, who has been in fine form since joining from AC Milan, showed great composure to fire a powerful finish into the roof of the net, marking his first goal at the Etihad.
West Ham showed significantly more intent in the early stages of the second half, briefly threatening to make a contest of it. Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville both forced saves from Gianluigi Donnarumma, with Bowen also dragging a shot into the side netting. Despite this spirited spell from the visitors, Pep Guardiola appeared frustrated on the touchline, later noting that his side needed to be more fluid with the ball to maintain their title standards.
Any hopes of a West Ham comeback were extinguished in the 69th minute when Haaland secured his brace. Following a triple substitution by Guardiola, substitute Rico Lewis flicked a pass into Haaland’s path inside the six-yard box, and the striker made no mistake with the finish. Although Haaland narrowly missed a chance for a hat-trick in stoppage time, the 3-0 result was a fair reflection of a dominant City performance that keeps the pressure firmly on their title rivals.
