For 45 minutes on a clammy day in east London, a compact and enterprising West Ham seemed to be giving Manchester City their toughest test of the Premier League season so far, a goal up and coiled behind a quick-breaking attack.
By the final knockings of the second half the scene was more familiar. The City fans were pogoing about happily in the away end. Erling Haaland had finally scored a goal, after almost scoring a goal more times than seemed humanly possible in a single game of football. And City were romping towards their fifth straight league win of the season, 3-1 up and on the verge of returning to the top of the table.
