Premier League 2019/20: 3 Reasons why Manchester City won against West Ham
As Manchester City traveled to the London Stadium to begin their title defense, the reigning Premier League champions registered a comprehensive 5-0 victory against a hapless West Ham side.
The Cityzens sealed an unprecedented domestic treble last season and kicked off their Premier League campaign a convincing win away from home.
Raheem Sterling was in the thick of the action once again as his brilliant treble spearheaded Manchester City to a routine victory.
The Englishman carried on from where he left off last season and the likes of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus also got on the score-sheet.
Club record signing Rodri also started in the center of the park alongside David Silva and Kevin de Bryune and Joao Cancelo, the club's most recent recruit, was an unused substitute.
Sebastien Haller and Pablo Fornals also made their competitive debuts for West Ham as the Hammers failed to make an impression in the game.
As the treble winners go their season underway with a morale boosting victory, let's look at three reasons why they ran out comprehensive 5-0 winners.
#1 Raheem Sterling leads from the front
Raheem Sterling is arguably one of the most improved players under Pep Guardiola and narrowly missed out on the PFA Player of the Year award to Virgil van Dijk last season.
The 24-year-old, fresh from his heroics in City's treble winning season, lead from the front in Aguero's absence and spurred his team on to a convincing victory.
With Leroy Sané out with a long-term injury and Aguero lacking match practice, Gabriel Jesus led the line with Riyad Mahrez and Sterling either side of him.
Starting from the left flank, Sterling latched on to a brilliantly weighted pass from de Bruyne to get his name on the score-sheet and went on to register two more in the second half.
Sterling is going to be central to Manchester City's plans once again as they aim to compete on all fronts this season.