West Ham United produced a herculean defensive effort to end Manchester City's 100% start to the Premier League season by beating them 2-1 at Eastlands tonight.

First-half goals from Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho gave the Hammers - who had already beaten Arsenal and Liverpool away this season - a shock 2-0 lead.

Kevin De Bruyne threw the hosts a lifeline by reducing the arrears before the break, but it proved a false dawn as United held strong throughout a one-sided second half for a hat-trick of unlikely away wins.

Here, Sports Mole analyses how the players fared on a night when City's immaculate start came to a grinding halt.

© Getty Images

Goal

Joe Hart: Questions will be asked over how he was beaten at his near post for Moses's opener, and was also in no man's land for the second from a corner. Nowhere near his best. (4/10)

Defence

Bacary Sagna: Got forward well and caused Cresswell a host of problems, but his end product let him down more often than not. (5/10)

Nicolas Otamendi: Bailed out the unstable Mangala on a host of occasions and overall looked far more solid than his centre-back partner, despite only being in English football a matter of weeks. (7/10)

Eliaquim Mangala: Partially culpable for West Ham's opener after refusing to close down Moses quick enough, but the Frenchman atoned with a goal-saving block on Sakho later in the first half. Subbed at half time. (5/10)

Aleksandar Kolarov: Was unable to get forward as much as he would have liked due to Moses's threat, and the Serbian was almost responsible for a third goal, to make it 3-0, but Mangala bailed him out. (5/10)

Midfield

Fernandinho: Linked defence with attack brilliantly as usual and pulled off a host of excellent challenges to prevent the Hammers from countering in the first half. (6/10)

Yaya Toure: Came into the game much more after the break as he drilled agonisingly wide on a few occasions, but he was ultimately helpless to inspire a comeback. (5/10)

Jesus Navas: Like Toure, the Spaniard, a late inclusion in the first XI following Silva's injury, only began to play after the break but, despite getting himself into a host of excellent positions, failed to pick out blue shirts all evening. (5/10)

Kevin De Bruyne: Lukewarm home Premier League debut for the Belgian, who scored, but did precious little else. Some good moments but a whole host of poor final balls, too. (6/10)

Raheem Sterling: One or two promising moments, but overall the £49m man looked nowhere near his price-tag this evening and right-back Jenkinson was seldom troubled. Subbed for Bony on 65 minutes. (5/10)

Attack

Sergio Aguero: Ever so frustrating for the Argentine, who only had one clear-cut chance in 90 minutes. Had plenty of half chances but Adrian denied him on each and every occasion. (5/10)

Substitutes

Martin Demichelis: Subbed on at half time for the wayward Mangala but was duly untested throughout the second period as all the action occurred at the opposite end. (6/10)

Wilfried Bony: Replaced the quiet Sterling but did not fare much better himself. (4/10)

Goal

Adrian: A bad bit of judgement almost saw City equalise in the first half, but the stopper, returning from a three-match ban, was outstanding from then on and his finger-tip save to deny Otamendi preserved the win. (8/10)

Defence

Carl Jenkinson: Was expected to be given a torrid time by Sterling, but defied his critics with an excellent display against the tricky winger. (7/10)

James Tomkins: Excellent alongside Reid as the centre-half proved his durability after a number of outings at right-back in recent weeks. (7/10)

Winston Reid: Every bit a warrior as his fellow New Zealanders who will be vying for a second-straight rugby World Cup in Britain over the coming weeks. (9/10)

Aaron Cresswell: Allowed Navas far too much time and space on the right wing throughout the second half, but fortunately for him the Spaniard's delivery let him down time and again. (5/10)

Midfield

Mark Noble: Threw his body and face in the line of fire time and time again as he blocked a number of ferocious City efforts in the second half. (8/10)

Pedro Obiang: Solid overall, but the summer signing was fortunate that Toure missed the target early in the second half when Obiang allowed him far too much space. (6/10)

Manuel Lanzini: Booked for a foul on Sterling and withdrawn shortly before the 70-minute mark as he looked increasingly lightweight at a time when heavyweights were needed. (5/10)

Victor Moses: Drilled an excellent low shot past Hart for the opener but saw less and less of the ball as time went on. (7/10)

Dimitri Payet: Relatively quiet by his own high standards so far, but delivered the corner which eventually led to the Hammers' second of the night. (5/10)

Attack

Diafra Sakho: Did well to bundle home what proved the decisive goal and did not shirk any defensive work as he played a role in the herculean performance after the break. (7/10)

Substitutes

Nikica Jelavic: Saw very little of the ball during his 20-minute cameo. (4/10)

James Collins: Replaced Jenkinson late on and helped drag West Ham over the finish line. (5/10)

Written by
Shane Callaghan