Manchester City flexed their muscles against West Ham in the first of the FA Cup semi-finals, comfortable 4-1 winners on a cloudless afternoon in east London. They are now on the path to securing their second piece of silverware this season after their Continental Cup triumph against Chelsea in March, who they will face again should the Blues emerge victorious in the second semi-final against Arsenal on Sunday.
West Ham took a leaf from the book of the reigning champions, starting the game with an aggressive high press; clearly, they had learned lessons from the 2-0 defeat suffered at the hands of City in the WSL a fortnight ago. The 3-5-2 formation set up by Olli Harder attempted to put those insights into practice, stifling and snuffing out the City attack, while testing a defence that featured two recent returnees from injury in Alanna Kennedy and Alex Greenwood.
