Manchester City 2 West Ham United 1: match report Although the Premier League champions" flag continues to flutter outside the Etihad, Manchester United's success in sealing this season's title with a month to spare ensured that this game was played out to a flat atmosphere inside the ground. City are all but certain of second-placed, while West Ham's relegation worries were eased weeks ago, so the fixture carried little significance in terms of the outcome of this campaign for both managers. City, of course, still have an FA Cup Final to look forward to in a fortnights" time and that at least gives Roberto Mancini's players a focus for their motivation. Whatever the result of the Cup Final against Wigan, however, this season will undoubtedly be a story of unfulfilled promise for City. A first league title in 42 years last season should have been a springboard for dominance, but rather than tighten the screw on United, City's defence of their crown has, statistically, been the most abject since Blackburn Rovers finished 21 points adrift of top spot in the campaign following their 1994-95 title triumph. Mancini's insistence that United's double-figure lead does not offer a fair reflection of this season counts for little when his players have been unable to justify his argument by delivering the points that would have made the title race as compelling as it should have been. As a result of their failure to extend the title race, City are now faced with a run of games until the end of the campaign - West Brom and Norwich at home, Swansea and Reading away - which threaten to carry as much importance as a pre-season friendly. Still, City can yet close the gap between themselves and United to a more respectable margin and overcoming West Ham was the first step in that objective. With Mancini clearly determined to inspire a winning end-of-season run that would go some way to helping him retain his job, the Italian named a strong team, including the fit-again David Silva, to overcome Allardyce's outfit. And although City failed to secure the winning margin that their dominance deserved, they still coasted to a comfortable victory. But for a 20-yard volley from Mohamed Diame on 24 minutes which prompted a fumble from Hart, West Ham barely laid a glove on City. It was one-way traffic, starting with Carlos Tevez's seventh minute strike from distance which was saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen. Silva then sent a left foot effort wide before the Spaniard's pass to Aguero resulted in the Argentine sending his effort crashing against the post. The breakthrough came on 28 minutes, however, when Samir Nasri pass to Aguero was converted by the forward from close range. From that point on, City increased their dominance, but they struggled to extend their lead until Toure made the game safe with his stunning strike on 83 minutes. Prior to that, Pablo Zabaleta and Nasri had gone close to scoring, with James Collins shooting wide from 12 yards for West Ham on 81 minutes. Toure's effort two minutes later was the moment of the game, though, and showed just why City were so determined to secure him to a new long-term contract earlier this month.