Man City 2-0 West Ham: Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne get Premier League champions back on winning ways

Rodri headed City into a first half lead and Kevin De Bruyne sealed the win just after an hour as Pepo Guardiola's side moved back to 22 points behind league leaders Liverpool - or more importantly retored their four-point lead over Leicester.

City released a video from chief executive Ferran Soriano flatly denying the UEFA charges that have led to a two-year Champions League ban just hours before Guardiola's side took to the field for the first time since the sentence was announced.

While City blew some cobwebs away, it was more disappointment for David Moyes' West Ham, who could manage just 22 percent of the possession and failed to have a shot on target in a one-sided home win.

Gabriel Jesus squandered an opportunity to give City the lead inside six minutes, dispossessed by Ryan Fredericks as he attempted to find a way around goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

The hosts did edge in front after half an hour, when Rodri's header from a Kevin De Bruyne corner found the net.

West Ham lost Fredericks to an apparent shoulder injury shortly before the hour mark and City doubled their advantage through De Bruyne soon after.

The Belgium international squeezed a low strike inside the near post to cap a neat passing move from the home side.

Man City 2-0 West Ham Opta stats

• Manchester City have won each of their last nine matches against West Ham in all competitions, scoring 30 goals while only conceding three times.
• West Ham are in the relegation zone after 26 Premier League games for the first time since February 11th 2011, when they also had 24 points – they finished bottom of the league that season.
• Pep Guardiola has won all nine of his managerial meetings with West Ham in all competitions, his best 100% winning ratio against any opponent.
• Aymeric Laporte has won 43 of his first 50 Premier League games, overtaking the record previously jointly-held by Ederson, Arjen Robben and Didier Drogba (42 wins from 50).
• Kevin De Bruyne was directly involved in his 150th and 151st goals in Europe's top five leagues tonight, scoring 53 goals and assisting a further 98 for Chelsea, Werder Bremen, Wolfsburg and Manchester City.
• Jarrod Bowen has finished on the losing side on all eight of his Premier League appearances; in these games his side have scored once and conceded 22 times.
• David Moyes lost six of his 22 games against Manchester City in the Premier League as Everton boss – since leaving, he has lost seven consecutive leagues games against them.
• Rodri completed 178 passes for Manchester City, a Premier League record since detailed data collection began in 2003-04. The entire West Ham team completed 169.

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