Compared to the Man City squad in the previous round, Sterling continued to start on the bench while Gabriel Jesus started for Sergio Aguero. In the match between the team with the lowest and highest possession ratings in the league, it is not surprising that Man City took the initiative.
The opening goal came in the 10th minute. After a pass to Fernandinho's left wing, todayy Sane fired a dangerous kick that left Ben Foster unable to stand still and watch the ball go into the net.
Surprisingly, West Brom equalized just 3 minutes later. Gareth Barry's passing turn opened up an opportunity for Jay Rodriguez to score. This was a situation in which away team center back John Stones alone had to deal with two strikers in black and white.
However, the advantage soon returned to Man City in the 15th minute. Fernandinho's long-range shot hit hit hit Barry's foot before entering the home team's goal.
After that, Man City still controlled the game better. If West Brom defenders had not intervened in time in many situations, they would have conceded another goal in the first half. The Citizens' most dangerous chance was David Silva's over-the- bar header.
West Brom's attacks remained loyal with crosses for the two strikers to head. Salomon Rondon had 2 chances to score but he unfortunately missed them. The first half ended with a score of 2-1 in favor of Man City.
West Brom created the first dangerous situation in the second half. Krychowiak had a dangerous header in the 47th minute but could not trouble goalkeeper Ederson.
The game was unchanged in the second half compared to the first 45 minutes of play. Therefore, the goal to increase the score to 3-1 came as a matter of course. A few minutes after coming off the bench, Sterling scored after a cross from Kyle Walker. In this goal, Man City deployed the ball from the left wing to the right wing.
De Bruyne, David Silva... had many other shots from the away team but they could not celebrate more. West Brom played better in the second half but still had difficulty scoring.
In that context, Otamendi continued to leave his mark in... West Brom's goal. After not closely following the home team's player in the opening goal, he made a careless pass, creating conditions for Matt Phillips to withdraw to prevent the score from dropping to 2-3 in the 90+2 minute. This 3-2 victory helped Man City continue to top the Premier League table with 28 points after 10 matches. Meanwhile, West Brom temporarily dropped to 14th place in the rankings with only 10 points in hand.
