West Ham United 0 Manchester City 2
Two of Manchester City's new signings gave Sven-Goran Eriksson's side a 2-0 win over West Ham United.
Rolando Bianchi's close-range effort before the break and Geovanni's angled drive near the end sealed a satisfying victory for Eriksson on his Barclays Premier League debut. The high point of an otherwise miserable day for the Hammers was Dean Ashton's return.
Despite dominating possession for long periods in the opening period, Alan Curbishley's side failed to put any pressure on rookie keeper Kasper Schmeichel. Eriksson must have feared for the 20-year-old, son of great Dane Peter, when he named him in a starting line-up featuring six Barclays Premier League debutants.
protected superbly Yet Schmeichel was a virtual spectator as City's defence, protected superbly by Dietmar Hamann and Michael Johnson, kept them at arm's length. All the threat came from the visitors, with Martin Petrov often impressive. The Bulgarian saw a number of efforts saved by Robert Green.
Elano was another key performer. Deployed just behind lone striker Bianchi, Elano found space intelligently, never lost his composure and always threatened to cause problems. The 26-year-old had already fired over when he collected Stephen Ireland's short pass after Luis Boa Morte had lost possession inside the City half. Quickly sensing Matthew Upson might lack half a yard of pace, Elano ran straight at the England defender, then skipped round him. The low cross invited a far post finish and Bianchi - fourth highest scorer in Serie A last term - was on hand to tap home.
Curbishley gave a clear indication of what he thought about West Ham's attempts to level by hauling off both Boa Morte and Lee Bowyer during the interval.
more threat For the moment Ashton, the man most Hammers fans really wanted to see, remained on the bench. But the introduction of Matthew Etherington instantly brought the home side more threat.
Micah Richards needed all his impressive strength to prevent Craig Bellamy getting his head to Freddie Ljungberg's cross. Ljungberg was an inch away from turning home Etherington's cross but, with just under half an hour remaining Curbishley called on Ashton, who had not played a game since breaking an ankle on England duty 12 months ago.
Yet, with Richards matching Ashton stride for stride and jump for jump, the move actually stopped West Ham's flow, allowing City to force themselves back into the contest.
Robert Green was unconvincing as he fumbled Petrov's shot and only Ireland's slack pass prevented the midfielder being offered another sight of the Hammers goal.
But the golden moment Ashton had been waiting for arrived 11 minutes from time as Etherington picked him out with a deep cross. The striker took aim from 10 yards, only to see his first-time volley skim the crossbar. It was the nearest West Ham came to spoiling Eriksson's day before substitute Geovanni fired home number two four minutes from time.