Good morning and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of today's early Premier League encounter between Manchester City and West Ham United at the Etihad Stadium.
So, having waited 44 years to win the league title, it has taken Man City just 11 months to lose it to their rivals Manchester United.
However, their campaign is by no means over. Manager Roberto Mancini will want his players to finish the season strongly, particularly because they will take on Wigan Athletic in the final of the FA Cup next month.
Meanwhile, where visiting West Ham are concerned, it is a case of 'job done'. They are safe from the threat of relegation and now hold aspirations of finishing in the top half of the table.
With a win still important to both teams, who will come out in top in Manchester? Stay tuned with us to find out.
That's all we have time for from Manchester. Thanks for joining us this afternoon and be sure to stick for Sports Mole throughout the day for coverage of all the football from at home and abroad. Until next time, goodbye.
Well, the scoreline suggests this was a close match, but it really wasn't. Man City dominated the contest and deservedly claimed all three points. They are now eight points ahead of Arsenal in third with four matches left to play.
FULL TIME: Man City 2-1 West Ham
He may be hurt, but Hart should be doing much better with that. It's a powerful strike by Carroll from the edge of the area, but it's straight at Hart. He gets down well enough, but the ball then squirms through his legs and creeps just over the line. An instant grimace comes across his face - he's in a lot of pain. It will only be a consolation for the Hammers.
GOAL! Man City 2-1 West Ham (Carroll)
Hart appears to be in a bit of discomfort out there. He seems to have hurt his leg and is no longer kicking the ball. City have used all of their substitutes so it will have to be a case of him gritting his teeth and getting through the remaining couple of minutes of time added on.
There will be a minimum of four minutes of stoppage time at the end of this clash.
SAVE! Good stop from Hart, who showed great awareness there to get down and push clear a header by Carroll from a Gary O'Neil cross. If he holds out a bit longer, this will be Hart's 16th clean sheet in the Premier League this season.
SUBSTITUTION: Final switch of the afternoon as Nasri is replaced by Kolo Toure. This will be one of his last appearances for City at the Etihad following his recent announcement that he will leave the club on a free transfer in the summer.
Quite simply, you do not save shots like that. You could have put three goalkeepers in the net and that still would have gone in. It's all about Yaya Toure, who has been very quiet today. He collects the ball 20 yards from goal and then proceeds to blast it into the top corner of the West Ham net. There is nothing that Jaaskelainen could have done to prevent that. It's prompted a second change from the home team as well as Tevez is replaced by Javi Garcia.
GOAL! Man City 2-0 West Ham (Toure)
CHANCE! What a golden opportunity for West Ham to draw level. Man City fail to clear Taylor's scuffed free kick and the ball eventually drops to Collins 10 yards from goal. The centre-back is probably not the ideal player to have in that position and he showed why by firing horribly wide from a good position.
SUBSTITUTIONS: Final roll of the dice from Allardyce as he makes his last two switches. O'Brien and Nolan are hooked, with Matt Taylor and Carlton Cole coming onto the pitch. That's positive stuff from the West Ham manager.
BOOKINGS! Dangerous and needless stuff from West Ham full-back O'Brien, who wipes Zabaleta's feet from underneath him. Both players are booked for the confrontation that follows, before their teammates pull them apart. Meanwhile, Silva has been replaced by James Milner as Man City make their first change.
CHANCE! That is one for the Christmas bloopers DVDs! It's a great break from City, which ends with Tevez getting down the right wing and sending over an inviting cross for an unmarked Nasri. The goal is gaping for the French international, but he fails to make contact with the ball from six yards out. His manager Mancini does not look impressed on the touchline.
BOOKING! Collison's first real involvement sees him cautioned and it is a stupid one. Aguero goes to take a quick throw and the West Ham midfielder stops him by jumping almost in his face! There's no argument from the substitute and nor should there have been.
CHANCE! Only a great block from Joey O'Brien keeps West Ham in this game. Aguero makes a fool out of Collins by ghosting by the West Ham defender, before drilling in a low cross from the byline. It looks as though Tevez has a simple tap-in, but O'Brien throws himself in the path of the shot to send the ball over the crossbar.
SUBSTITUTION: The first change of the afternoon is made by West Ham, who replace Vaz Te with Collison. I wonder if that move will allow Kevin Nolan to get forward more often and support Carroll. He's much better in an advanced midfield role.
SAVE! What a wonderful reverse pass from Tevez that was. The Argentine must have eyes in the back of his head because he has just picked out Nasri with what looked to be an impossible pass on the edge of the area. The French midfielder then gets his shot away, but Jaaskelainen pushes clear the danger.
CHANCE! Only a great piece of defending from Reid denies Tevez putting City 2-0 up. Nasri shows great imagination to chip the ball into the path of Tevez. However, the ball won't come down for him quickly and when he does eventually shoot, Reid is able to get in a block and the danger is cleared.
To be fair to West Ham, they've started this half so much better. On two occasions Matt Jarvis has got the ball to the byline and sent over decent crosses, but City have been able to defend both. That certainly looks as though it will be West Ham's most likely route back into the match.
It is so quiet inside the Etihad Stadium. You can hear both managers shouting and the majority of the players as well! It seems as the loss of the title has really got to the home faithful. To be fair, this match is not exactly inspiring either.
Right, West Ham get the second half off and running. They need to be much more positive during the next 45 minutes.
" Man City have now scored in 48 consecutive Premier League home games. The record is 66 (Man Utd, currently). Rivals."
"4 - Andy Carroll has now been booked in four consecutive Premier League appearances. Muscular."
While we wait for the players to return for the second half, let's take a look at a couple of stats from that half courtesy of the people at Opta...
In all honesty, West Ham have really struggled. Carroll has been starved of both goalscoring chances and support. What's more, the Hammers have rarely got the ball out of their own half. If things don't change during the second half (and I'm not sure that they will) there will only be one outcome here.
Even though City have looked as though they are in semi-holiday mode, they've been the dominant force so far. They've created a handful of chances and have looked dangerous in the final third. More of the same in the second half and you could see them adding one or two more goals.
HALF-TIME: Man City 1-0 West Ham
There will be just the one minute of stoppage time at the end of the first half.
Very little happening at the Etihad as we head towards half-time. It looks as though both teams have settled for this scoreline before the break.
Here's a stat from the guys over at Infostrada Sports on Twitter: "Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez have scored 23 goals together in the 17 previous Premier League matches in which they both started for Manchester City."
We've had a brief stoppage in play as West Ham winger Matt Jarvis hit the deck after he had ran into the back of Vincent Kompany. No wonder he's hurt because Kompany is a big chap! Jarvis is up now and play has resumed, but he's looking a little sheepish.
DOUBLE SAVE! Smart work from Jaaskelainen, who has probably kept his side in the contest with two really good stops. First Nasri is denied from distance and when the rebound drops to Pablo Zabaleta, the West Ham keeper is up on his feet and is able to block the full-back's rising shot.
Much better from Aguero and that is a lovely goal from Man City. Silva and Nasri are the creators as they link neatly inside the area for the Argentine striker, who sends the ball into the net from close range. You'd have to say that it has been coming - City have been the only side that has shown any attacking intent.
GOAL! Man City 1-0 West Ham (Aguero)
Touching stuff from both sets of supporters as they all stand to applaud Marc-Vivien Foe, who died 10 years ago in June. The Cameroon international played for both of these clubs and made an impression on a large number of supporters.
OFF THE POST! Oh dear Mr Aguero, you really should be doing much better with that. Silva picks him out unmarked inside the area with a lofted pass. He then goes for a half-volley, which a player of his quality should be converting from eight yards out. His effort is scuffed though and it bounces to safety off the post.
BOOKING! That's a typical striker's challenge from Carroll, who brings Aguero down from behind on the halfway line. It's needless from the West Ham player and he rightly becomes the first name to go into Webb's notebook.
CHANCE! So close for Man City. A corner is cleared only as far as Gareth Barry, who chests the ball into the path of Silva. The Spaniard's instant strike is a daisy-cutter that evades a number of players inside the area, but it also flashes just wide of the post. Unlucky.
We are yet to see anything of West Ham as an attacking force. To be fair they are defending well at the moment, but you can't see that lasting the whole game. They will need to start committing more men forward at some point.
Mohamed Diame is lucky to escape a booking as he clatters into the back of City attacker David Silva. Referee Howard Webb takes the West Ham player to one side and a yellow card looks imminent, but the official chooses to keep his cards in his pocket for now. The away side have obviously been told not to let their City counterparts settle on the ball anywhere on the pitch.
SAVE! It's Tevez again - he's looking extremely lively so far. The Argentine collects possession 20 yards from goal and having weighed up his options, he opts to shoot. The ball takes a potentially nasty bounce just in front of Jaaskelainen, but the Finn is able to hold the ball at the first attempt. Good goalkeeping.
The home team are making all the early running and a through ball from Samir Nasri picks out the alert Tevez, who drives towards goal. His shot forces West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen to make a save, but the linesman's flag was up anyway so it wouldn't have counted.
GAME ON! Here we go then - hosting Man City get this encounter started. It's also sunny in Manchester, which is a rarity! Let's hope that the football lives up to weather.
Right, here come both teams into what is a rather quiet Etihad Stadium. I suppose that is to be expected. It will be up to the players to lift the atmosphere.
Staying with Reid, his performances alongside James Collins at the heart of the West Ham defence has been a major reason behind their positive results of late. With the likes of Carlos Tevez and Aguero on the pitch today, the defensive duo will have to be at their very best again.
Someone that is wary of City backlash today is West Ham defender Winston Reid. Despite the fact that confidence is bound to be low among the home players, defender Reid has warned his teammates that they will need to be on their guard:
"We know City have quality players," Sky Sports News quotes Reid as saying. "They have quality throughout the side, but we are five games unbeaten and keen to finish the season as strong as [we can].
"We know that facing them on their own ground is going to be extra tough because as the former champions they will still want to finish the season well and grab that second place.
"Even though they haven't got the title back they have an FA Cup final to go for and they will want to finish well."
Of course, what would help create an atmosphere is a decent performance from the Man City players. They have their best players out there today after all. David Silva and Sergio Aguero were both missing at Tottenham Hotspur last week and it showed. The attacking duo are back today and that should make a difference.
It will be interesting to see what the atmosphere is like inside the Etihad Stadium today. After all, this is their first encounter since they lost the title to their bitter rivals. They have got an FA Cup final to look forward to, but even so it may be a little subdued this afternoon.
Talking of the bench, here is who will start the encounter as substitutes:
MAN CITY: Pantilimon, Kolo Toure, Nastasic, Kolarov, Garcia, Milner, Dzeko
WEST HAM: Henderson, Pogatetz, Collison, Taylor, Noble, J Cole, C Cole
What's more, City have not lost to West Ham since March 2009 when Welsh international midfielder Jack Collison scored the only goal of the game at Upton Park. Bookmakers will give you odds of around 150/1 for the same outcome today, which is asking a lot because Collison is on the bench!
Recent history does not bode too well for the Hammers today. They've not won a Premier League match away at Man City since April 2003 - they also went down that season. They did win there in the FA Cup back in 2006, but either way, it's quite a number of years since they travelled back to London with a positive result.
Sam Allardyce is obviously happy with what he has seen in recent weeks because his team is unchanged from last time out. Loanee frontman Andy Carroll will start as a lone striker, with Matt Jarvis and Ricardo Vaz Te playing in the wide roles. The onus will also be on Kevin Nolan to get forward when he can to offer support to Carroll.
WEST HAM XI: Jaaskelainen; Reid, O'Brien, Collins, Demel; Nolan, Jarvis, Diame, O'Neil, Vaz Te; Carroll
And let's take a look at how the away team will begin this encounter.
MAN CITY XI: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Yaya Toure, Barry, Silva, Nasri; Tevez, Aguero
Right, before we get into all the facts, figures and statistics concerning this game, the team news from the Etihad is just beginning to filter through to us. Let's start with the home side, shall we?
That's about as strong as it gets from a Manchester City point of view. Maybe Joleon Lescott starting ahead of Matija Nastasic is a bit of a surprise, but apart from that, City are at their best. When you look at the names in that lineup, it's hard to fathom why they are so far behind champions Manchester United. Consistency is the name of the game though I guess.
Morning all. On the face of it, you could be forgiven for thinking that there is very little to play for today. Fear not though, because both of these sides will want to claim maximum points at the Etihad Stadium, that's for sure.
Written by
Liam Apicella
Liam Apicella
