In the first match of the calendar year over the past 12 seasons, Manchester City has always won. Therefore, their recent 4-1 victory over West Ham to start the new year 2025 is not too surprising.
However, this is not a normal season for coach Pep Guardiola's team. Normally, Man City start January with the goal of winning the Premier League. This time, their goal is not to set a record, but instead to save the season.
After 2024 ended with 2 wins in the last 14 matches, Guardiola really wanted to tell everyone that the fifth consecutive Premier League title was beyond their ability. With Liverpool currently leading, that may be true. But against West Ham, The Citizens started 2025 with a bright spot, although very weak.
Savinho played excellently and left his mark on 3 of the 4 goals. Meanwhile, Erling Haaland once again proved that he is still an excellent striker. The two goals against West Ham helped the Norwegian striker surpass the 20-goal mark in all competitions this season.
Man City's performance is far from perfect, but for the first time since October last year, they have won 2 consecutive matches. Guardiola has set the bar so high that he is not really satisfied, despite welcoming a positive result.
"We have seen our level for many years but now, we have not reached that level. We won. I'm happy and that helps us. You judge the result, our performance was not good. When we play well, we know we played well," Guardiola said after the win over West Ham.
If Man City want to win any trophies this season - Champions League or FA Cup - it will be because of the way they attack, not the way they defend.
West Ham were easily defeated at the Etihad but that was partly their own doing. With 17 shots towards Man City's goal, The Hammers only had the only goal from Niclas Fullkrug in the 71st minute. If they had taken advantage of the opportunity, they should have opened the scoring and had a completely different game.
Therefore, in the post-match press conference, Guardiola was asked if the result against West Ham showed that Man City had returned.
"I am very satisfied with this result but you can't ask me if the old Man City will return. If you watch the game, we're not like that. Don't misunderstand me. I'm very happy. If you ask me if the team plays like many years ago? No, absolutely not," said the Spaniard.
Savinho and Haaland have shown that Guardiola still has players who can shine, even with Man City lacking cohesion in defence. They are unlikely to defend the Premier League title, but a positive second half of the season is not impossible.
