De Bruyne and Guardiola laud ´exceptional´ Savinho after West Ham win

Kevin De Bruyne and Pep Guardiola showered praise on Savinho’s “exceptional” display in Manchester City’s 4-1 triumph over West Ham on Saturday.

The Citizens kick-started 2025 with a comfortable win at the Etihad Stadium, earning back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time since October.

Savinho got the hosts up and running in the 10th minute when his cross deflected fortuitously off the boot of Vladimir Coufal and past Alphonse Areola.

He then delivered a wicked ball to the back post for Erling Haaland to head home, before slipping in the Norwegian after the break for his second goal of the game.

Four of Savinho’s five Premier League assists this season have been for Haaland, the joint-most from one player to another in the competition this term.

The Brazilian ended the contest having created more chances (three) and completed more dribbles (two) for City, earning praise from his captain and manager.

“I think the talent is really there. He started really well this season and then went a bit down like the whole team, which is normal,” De Bruyne told BBC Match of the Day.

“But he has exceptional qualities, so it is good he has confidence and makes the difference for us.”

“He was brilliant. He is one of the few that is fresh. There were glimpses of brilliance. The work ethic was unbelievable, but still not the composure,” Guardiola added.

“We accelerate everything. We have struggled with results recently, but the last two victories are good, and we did not lose in three games.

“I would say a month-and-a-half [of poor form] compared with eight years is not bad.”

De Bruyne marked his 400th appearance for City in all competitions with his 165th assist for the club, teeing up Phil Foden after a mistake at the back by the Hammers.

The result kept City sixth in the Premier League table, two points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea.

Having endured a difficult start to the season, which has seen them lose six of their first 20 top-flight games, De Bruyne believes his side are slowly getting back to their best.

“We know it has been a tough season, but I think today was an improvement from the last game,” the Belgian added.

“Physically, we are starting to get better, so by playing games and winning we hopefully get some confidence, and it will get better.”

Guardiola, however, was more reserved when asked about the magnitude of his team’s latest win amid the injury crisis his squad are currently enduring.

“No [we are not back in the groove]. It is happier to win, but we are still not like we were for different reasons. The result will help. We struggle, but it is a release,” the Spaniard said.

For West Ham, meanwhile, they have now conceded nine goals in their last two Premier League games after being thumped 5-0 by Liverpool in their final game of 2024.

Saturday’s defeat was the Hammers’ sixth top-flight loss by a margin of three or more goals this season, more than any other side in the division so far.

They have only done so more times in a Premier League season, in 2017-18 (10), 2010-11 (eight) and 1998-99 (seven), leaving them down in 13th in the table.

But the visitors had their chances, with Tomas Soucek squandering a golden opportunity in the first half, while Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus also went close.

Julen Lopetegui’s side ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.19 from their 17 shots, missing the clinical presence of the injured Jarrod Bowen in the final third.

Soucek, however, believes it was an opportunity missed for the Hammers at the Etihad, with the midfielder left to rue his side’s missed chances during the contest.

“We are upset because we had a good chance to take the points from Manchester City,” Soucek told Sky Sports.

“Especially in the first half, I had a good chance, and we had a few others, and then we conceded a deflected goal. We tried to compete, and we did, but the result was not good.

“We have suffered a few big defeats. We have one way which we build in training, which we wanted to show.

“In many ways, we did, but we have to try not to concede goals. Jarrod is a miss for us. This season, he has been great, but this is football, and we need to step up for him now.

“We showed more with the ball today. We had chances, but we need to concentrate on getting points.”