West Ham U21’s, who had begun their league campaign with five games unbeaten saw their winning run come to an end. The Hammers lost to Manchester City, who thanks to their 4-1 victory over Mark Robson’s side went top of the table.

Early on, it would be the home side, Manchester City, who created the first clear cut opportunities of the match. With Fin Herrick forced to make some early saves, West Ham were under pressure and it was not long before City took the lead.

Thirty minutes in, Matty Henderson-Hall put City ahead. After a quick transition down the left hand side, resulting in a cross into the box, Henderson-Hall was there to tuck home his finish and give City a deserved 1-0 lead.

Despite going behind, the Hammers responded well and would level the tie on the stroke of half time. Lewis Orford was brought down on the edge of the penalty area resulting in a free kick to West Ham. Ollie Scarles stepped up and curled his effort low into the far corner to make it 1-1.

The second half began fairly evenly with City enjoying more of the ball but West Ham looking dangerous on the counter attack. However, it would be City who struck next and went back in front. 73 minutes in. Jacob Wright found space on the edge of the penalty area and fired home low into the bottom corner to make it 2-1.

Just five minutes later City further extended their lead. Nico O’Reilly delivered a ball low into the box, substitute Justin Oboavwoduo, who had just come on, was in a great position and his first time finish left Mark Robson’s side with an uphill battle to turn the game around in it’s later stages.

Late into second half stoppage time City would score a fourth goal to finish off a challenging trip away to Manchester for the Hammers. Emilio Lawrence who had caused problems throughout the game, fired home from close range to cap off a dominant performance from Manchester City.

Speaking to the Club’s official website after the game, U21’s lead coach Mark Robson said: “We didn’t play well tonight, and they were the better team. Sometimes you have to take your medicine and move on. We’ve got a couple of weeks to rest and recover and be ready to go again against Wolves.”