Keep it simple.

It's been the Pep Guardiola recipe for success, getting his footballers to let the ball and their opponents do the work by being in the right positions to make the right decisions all the time. It's incredibly complicated until it becomes second nature and looks easy.

In their two-month slump, City have been messing up everything with schoolboy errors that have spoiled any decent passages of play as they have been ruthlessly exposed. Having conquered England again back in May, Guardiola possibly realised too late that he had to build his team back up again from the very bottom.

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With confidence on the floor after their Boxing Day draw with Everton, a manager known for overthinking opted against many changes at Leicester in order to try and lift his players. After victory despite an underwhelming performance, he picked the same XI again for the first time since the beginning of the season as West Ham turned up at the Etihad and Savinho rewarded him with another three points for the team.

It has been a difficult start to life at City for Savinho after he soared in La Liga last season with Girona, and it was unfortunate for him that after his first goal for the club last week Guardiola unintentionally highlighted his tendency for mistakes.

The manager's point was perseverance, and it stands for the whole team. City have bunkered down in their crisis, sticking to their principles with a determination that there is not too much wrong and they don't need to rip up their playbook to get out of the hole; if it continued against West Ham to look like the definition of insanity at times, at others individuals saw the benefit of going back to basics.

Starting on the left again, as he did to such effect last season, Savinho produced a decent bit of play to cross for Haaland in the 10th minute and kept going when the ball was cut out and made its way back to him. He tried again, and this time Vladimir Coufal sliced the ball past Alphonse Areola and into the net.

That goal came after an opening spell where Mohammed Kudus had run Josko Gvardiol ragged, and City's familiar problems were on show again. Guardiola had his head in his hands and pleaded for control and calm from his side as Mateo Kovacic in particular seemed intent on launching passes beyond teammates and getting caught in possession; Manu Akanji looked very fortunate when Crysencio Summerville was judged to have fouled him as he robbed him of possession and hared in on goal.

Savinho himself was culpable, hitting an awful short ball to Kevin De Bruyne on the edge of the West Ham box that allowed Summerville to counter and tee up Kudus only for Phil Foden to force him wide with the shot. Such mistakes and jitters were forgotten though with the second goal as the Brazilian shone in a wonderful team move to skin Coufal and then put in a wonderful teasing cross that Erling Haaland headed in for his 20th of the season.

Haaland jokingly shoved Savinho in the celebrations as the City team made a point of highlighting their young star. The Norwegian had called for more assists from the 20-year-old and he now has two in as many game.

There was a time when goals and assists weren't enough to guarantee a City player would start the following match, yet with things as they are Savinho is one of the first names in the XI for the big games City have coming up this month. Coming in £34m cheaper than Jeremy Doku and £79m cheaper than Jack Grealish, there is no question at the minute which one looks like the best option on the left wing even if it does mean £155m of signings on the bench.

For the first time in what feels like a long time City attacked from a winning position and Savinho was at the heart of it again, driving forward to slip Haaland through for a second ten minutes after the break. This time when Haaland came to thank him, Savinho winked like he'd been assisting him all his career.

A few minutes later, West Ham gifted De Bruyne possession high up the pitch and Phil Foden slotted home the easiest goal he will score this season. De Bruyne could have gone for goal himself but an assist felt more fitting on his 400th appearance for the Blues.

Those goals made it look like the kind of straightforward victory everyone expects City to pick up every week, and Guardiola could afford to take Kovacic and Nathan Ake off after an hour. If those changes could be telegraphed, keeping James McAtee on the bench until the 80th minute probably isn't the way to go about keeping the 22-year-old happy in the January window after his positive contribution at Leicester.

The result was better than the performance - as the manager's dismay from the touchline at the goal they conceded made clear - but City got their rewards when players stuck to what they know best. If Savinho and Haaland can build on their budding partnership, that should enable the rest of the team to get closer to their best.