Striker Niclas Fullkrug, who scored West Ham’s only goal in their 4-1 defeat away to Manchester City, believes there were a lot of positives to take away from the Hammers performance and that they deserved something from the game.

Facing Manchester City at the Etihad after a heavy defeat against Liverpool was never going to be a walk in the park. However, this is a City side going through their worst run of form in years. Prior to Saturday’s game, since winning 1-0 against Southampton at the end of October, Pep Guardiola’s side had won just two games in all competitions.

This run included a heavy defeat at the hands of a struggling Tottenham side, defeat against Manchester United who have endured a tough season and draws against both Crystal Palace and Everton. City’s quality is of course undeniable and against the Hammers they showed how even when they have not been at their best they are still capable of being ruthless.

Fullkrug’s goal after 71 minutes proved to be nothing more than a consolation. A brace from Erling Haaland, an own goal from Vladimir Coufal and a goal from Phil Foden saw West Ham fall to yet another heavy defeat. Julen Lopetegui’s side have now conceded three or more goals in nine games in all competitions this season. This is a truly damming stat and a very poor reflection on the Spaniard’s time in East London so far.

Speaking to the Club’s official website after the City defeat, German international Fullkrug said: ” I think today we deserved a better result than it was at the end. I think we showed some good stuff, some positive stuff and we have to go on with that. We have to try and get our confidence back, because two defeats like that hurt a lot. I am disappointed with the result, but a little bit happy about the character we tried to show.”

Although West Ham may have played well in spells and shown more than they did against Liverpool, not that this was exactly a tall order, this will provide fans with little solace as football is a results business and ultimately Julen Lopetegui’s side have fallen to yet another heavy defeat. Hammers fans will be left questioning where the Club’s next positive result is coming from.