Hammers trail at the break

West Ham find themselves 1-0 down at the break after Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure gave his side the lead.

The powerful midfielder powered home from the edge of the box after half an hour, as City putting in an impressive first half showing.

The hosts struggled to create chances and could have been two behind had Pablo Barrera not cleared a Mario Balotelli header off the line.

West Ham made four changes from the defeat at Sunderland with Barrera, Junior Stanislas, Frederic Piquionne and Julien Faubert coming into the side as boss Avram Grant opted to play 4-4-2.

City began impressively and should have taken the lead but Barotelli completely missed the ball when well-placed after just four minutes.

Stanislas hit a tame effort which was easily saved by Joe Hart before Toure’s goal gave the visitors the lead.

Gareth Barry mid-hit pass fell tto the former Barcelona player and he lashed home from the edge of the box with a powerful strike.

The Hammers best effort came from Scott Parker whose decent effort from just outside the area went just wide.

West Ham: Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Ben Haim, Barrera, Spector, Parker, Stanislas, Piquionne, Obinna.

Subs: Stech, Reid, Dyer, Cole, Boa Morte, Kovac, Hines.

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