West Ham United manager David Moyes felt his team was outplayed tactically by Manchester City in their season opener.
The reigning champions’ opening Premier League matchup this year was against West Ham. Manchester City won the match 2-0 at the London Stadium.
Both goals were scored by Erling Haaland, one in each half. After being brought down by Alphonse Areola, the 22-year-old new signing made an immediate impact by winning and scoring a penalty in the first half. After the break, he scored from open play.
West Ham are aiming for a competitive season after two straight appearances in the European places. However, Moyes admitted that City outplayed his team on matchday.
He told Sky Sports: “They were so good. I felt that tactically they completely outdid us today.
“They played differently than at the end of last season with both full-backs in the middle of the pitch like midfielders. We worked hard to try and replicate what we did in that game.
“It was a case of trying to stay in the game. It was only 1-0 at half-time with a penalty and it gave us an opportunity and a chance. We’d just started to grow into the game and their quality told.
“I felt like we had not played well enough so I wanted to try and change the run of the game. We got a little bit more of the ball for about five mins. They were far better than us and we couldn’t cope today.”