Player ratings: Manchester City v West Ham United

Hart – Required to produce one great one-on-one save against Robbie Keane. Otherwise spent most of his time beseeching others to maintain their focus. 7

Zabaleta – Attacked the space on West Ham’s flank excellently until they moved Ba across to give Pablo something to think about. By then the damage was done with a rare goal for the Argentine. 7

Kompany – Not quite at the top of his game, but still good enough to keep West Ham at bay in the second half. 7

Lescott – Maintained his concentration better than most, keeping a watchful eye on the movement of the West Ham strikers. 7

Kolarov – Did well enough against the energy of Sears. A steady if unspectacular peformance. 6

De Jong (Milner 46 mins) – Apparently he’s a regular finisher in training, and now we see why. A controlled drive, low and on target, bagged Nigel his first City goal. 7

Barry (Dzeko 73 mins) – Made an excellent start to the game, setting the tempo in our best spell. We need to see more of this to alleviate the reliance on de Jong. 7

Y Toure – Once again playing high up the field and asked to take the game to the Hammers. Moved deeper following the introduction of Dzeko and generally played within himself. 6

Silva – Lovely chipped pass for Zabaleta’s goal. Sadly his own finishing could have been sharper – should have buried the one-on-one chance rather than pass to Balotelli. 7

A Johnson – Sought to get at West Ham’s makeshift left-back, but not as successful as anticipated with the Hammers regularly doubling up on Adam. 6

Balotelli (Vieira 85 mins) – In the first-half Mario was making good runs but being let down by our slow build-up play. In the second period we moved the ball forward faster only for Mario to let himself down with his finishing. Had the shot against the bar bounced down and over the line it would have been a different story. 6

Subs:

Milner – A fine response to his Anfield nightmare. Arguably James’ best 45 minutes for the club, and no coincidence it was while playing in central midfield. 8

Dzeko – Took on a couple of early shots to show his renewed confidence following his Blackburn winner. Held the ball-up well in additional time to help secure the win. 6

Vieira – Once again came on to close the game out, and there were no subsequent chances for West Ham.

Man of the match: Joleon Lescott.