West Ham United’s under-23s were taught a harsh lesson by the Manchester City youngsters this afternoon.
Heading into the game, the Hammers sat just four points behind league leaders City in second place in the table.
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We had a game in hand over Manchester City as well, so a win this afternoon would have put us in a very strong position.
Unfortunately for us though, that didn’t happen. Mark Robson’s side have now lost three league games in a row and should third placed Arsenal win their game in hand, they will go level on points with us.
The U-23s looked like such a solid unit just last month but much like the senior team, we seem to have lost our way.
Manchester City teach West Ham under-23s harsh lesson
The Cityzens were far too good for the Hammers youngsters this afternoon.
They took the lead inside the first seven minutes through a James McAtee strike.
Things then went from bad to worse for West Ham as Jamal Baptiste was sent off after receiving two yellow cards just nine minutes apart midway through the first-half.
Carlos Roberto Forbs Borges then made it 2-0 on 59 minutes and that’s how the score-line remained until the final whistle.
City had 56% possession and had 14 attempts on goal with nine of those finding the target. Meanwhile, West Ham had just three shots with the City keeper having to make just two saves.
In such a huge game, it’s such a shame that Robson’s side didn’t really lay a glove on Manchester City. Perhaps these are the kind of games that are vital for the young players’ development.
Armstrong Okoflex didn’t play and that would undoubtedly have been a huge blow for the visitors. The result was still a bitterly disappointing one though. Perhaps it was just an off day or perhaps our young players aren’t actually as good as everyone keeps telling them they are.
Either way, today was a huge reality check for West Ham’s under-23s. It was a harsh lesson pertaining to just how good you have to be. Manchester City have quality in abundance, just like they do in their senior side.
Hopefully the Hammers’ youngsters learn from today’s lesson. They still have such a long way to go.
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