City 2 West Ham United 0
May 11th 2014 47,300
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WH Smith and the City shop
Well we did it! The expected win over West Ham was fairly straight forward. The 'Hammers' came to defend just like Villa did in mid-week so Joe Hart had very little to do. As expected the atmosphere was much better than the Villa game and once Nasri had broken the deadlock by scoring an excellent goal from outside the penalty area it was only a matter of time before City made the game and the Premier League title safe by scoring again. After some near misses it was appropriate that the second goal was scored by the skipper following a corner. Kompany has been magnificent all season and was his 4th league goal of the season. A word too for Demichelis who failed to impress in his early games but is now a favorite of many fans. He and Vincent Kompany have provided a solid backbone in the final games of the season when it really mattered. Silva and Toure ran the midfield and ensured that City dominated possession but it was a shame that neither Aguero or Dzeko could add to their goal tallies. Zabaleta and Kolarov had their usual excursions down the flanks to keep the opposing defenders busy.Alas we failed to beat the Chelsea record of the number of goals scored in the Premiership - we will just have to wait until next season to do it! A magnificent achievement by the team and staff.
There looked to be a pretty full house when the teams came out
What a lovely surprise to see one of City's special favorites - Georgi Kinkladze who played 106 times for City from 1995-98.The pic on the right is Kinkladze playing against Newcastle in Feb 1996 in a 3 all draw
City made just one change- Aguero coming in for Milner
West Ham brought a good number of fans with them
City supporters were hoping for an early goal to get rid of the jitters!
An early cross nearly reached its target
On 10 minutes a cross from Zabaleta looked good ......
...as it fell to Silva but alas his finish sailed well over the bar
The City players and supporters showed their anguish!
Zabaleta took a tumble but no whistle blown
Silva was constantly probing the West Ham defence
On 24 minutes a long range shot by Kolarov was pushed over the bar by Adrian
Often you would see nearly all the players near the centre circle
On 30 minutes Nolan fouled Hart in a clash.....
...and Hart went down injured and Nolan got a yellow card
City put pressure on at a corner
On 38 minutes some good inter passing ended with Nasri scoring from outside the area with an excellent effort
It was an splendid goal and we were off the mark
Players and fans had plenty to celebrate as the first step had been taken to victory
On 43 minutes Zabaleta almost scores from a cross from Aguero
A broken ankle does not stop this fan from watching
City continue to attack but at half time its still one nil
Another great City favorite was Ali Benarbia who was at the game. Pic on the right is from a game against Walsall in 2001
Just after half time City win a free kick on the left and then a corner
From the corner the ball is flicked on by Dzeko to Vincent Kompany who makes no mistake from close range
I do believe he is quite delighted!
The players jump in to celebrate and the crowd roar their appreciation
West Ham suddenly come to life in our half and the City defence have some work to do
but its soon back to the other end and a cross from Zabaleta is headed wide by Aguero
On 66 minutes a good cross from Zabaleta looks certain to be met by Aguero....
...but with the goal at his mercy his feet get in a twist and the ball ends up like a back pass to the keeper!
City piled on the pressure and Toure gave Nasri a good chance but the keeper blocked the effort
The West Ham keeper fell badly but recovered quite quickly
A Nasri shot fails to find the net
suddenly for no apparent reason a scuffle breaks out
With only a minute to go it seems quite ridiculous
but there is a lot of chatting and finger pointing going on....
eventually the referee calls a halt to the group meeting
...and goodness me there is Joe Cole -
forgot all about him!
There were yellow cards for Aguero and Noble and just time for a few minutes play before the final whistle went
It started with a few and then whooosh - the pitch was filled
several of the City players got mobbed as they tried to leave the pitch
eventually the pitch was cleared and out came the players to get the Cup and medals
The scorers on the day wait to collect
There it is in all its glory. Well done City!
The 'Beasts' daughter checks the quality of the cup
'come on now wave at the fans'
Demichelis goes on a run with the cup
Checking the names on the cup
Kompany is interviewed by Sky
Finally the players give the manager a lift off !
Hart 6.5: Zabaleta 8, Kompany 7.5, Demichelis 7.5, Kolarov 7.5: Garcia 7, Toure 7.5 ( Negredo) , Nasri 8, Silva 8 ( Milner), Dzeko 7 ( Fernandinho) Aguero 7
