Match Report & Player Ratings: West Ham 1-1 Manchester City (Premier League) | OneFootball

When Pep Guardiola looks back on this Premier League campaign, whether his Manchester City side end as champions or not, he will point at March as perhaps his most stressful month of the calendar.

In the Premier League, a 2-2 draw to Nottingham Forest a few weeks ago preceded a 1-1 at the London Stadium against West Ham United on Saturday night as Bernardo Silva’s exceptional finish over Mads Hermansen and Konstantinos Mavropanos’s equaliser just four minutes later defined a season-shaping game for both sides. 

West Ham, who entered the weekend inside the relegation zone and level on points with Forest, managed to escape the drop places at least before Sunday’s matches take place, while City’s hopes of a seventh title in nine seasons have effectively vanished as a result of the draw.

An onslaught in the dying moments saw chances fly for Phil Foden, Nico O’Reilly and particularly Marc Guehi – who skied a shot from six yards in the 95th minute – as the points were eventually shared. City have fallen nine points behind Arsenal just hours after Mikel Arteta’s side set the bar high across the English capital.

It was 41 minutes before kick-off when only five-and-a-half miles across London, at the Emirates Stadium, Viktor Gyokeres scored before Max Downman became the youngest scorer ever in the Premier League – to eventually earn the Gunners three valuable points against Everton to go 10 points clear at the top of the table. 

Of course, Manchester City had the chance to shrink that gap in this later kick-off and needed nothing short of a win to keep up the chase. But after a late, scrappy fight for a winner, the same problem remains – a lacking clinical edge. 

In the opening 15 minutes, City boasted 93 percent possession but struggled to show promise, with Guardiola watching from the stands as the served the first of a two-game touchline ban after being shown a sixth domestic yellow card of the season in the FA Cup against Newcastle United last weekend.

Rayan Ait-Nouri drove into the box from the left and successfully beat Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Wan-Bissaka but couldn’t possibly get a clear shot on goal through a wall of multiple bodies.

That was the beginning of a dominant first-half showing from the visitors, yet Omar Marmoush’s hooked free-kick after 22 minutes just about summed up the Blues’ lack of sharpness. 

After all, a stroke of luck – or skill – put City ahead after Antoine Semenyo and O’Reilly exchanged productive passes in midfield before Marmoush released Silva on the left flank, where he lofted a remarkable finish over Hermansen. 

“I meant it,” said Silva in a signal to the away bench moments after it sunk into the West Ham net, yet it was that type of goal where the intention will always be up for debate. What is distinct, however, is the fact that the joy from an away standpoint only lasted four minutes, and may not arise in this competition for the rest of the season. 

Konstantinos Mavropanos’s header after 35 minutes was West Ham’s only chance of the game up to that point and came by way of a poor and totally avoidable error from Gianluigi Donnarumma, who misread the punch and missed the ball completely, gifting the defender his first goal of the season.

Despite being unbeaten in their last 20 games against West Ham and with their opponents sitting level on points with Nottingham Forest near the bottom of the table before kick-off, City were struggling.

Semenyo continued to get involved and impress and nearly added his eighth goal in Manchester City colours since joining in January when he fired inches wide of the post after 45 minutes before Nunes’ rising shot went way off target. 

Then, on the hour, Erling Haaland found his first chance of the game when he was slipped through by Rayan Cherki. Yet the Norway international, searching for his 30th goal this season, was denied by Hermansen from close range. 

As the game got older, City’s attack became stronger but West Ham did well to suppress the threat, with Hermansen notably preventing Cherki through a crowd of players after 78 minutes. 

Here’s how we rated the Manchester City players from their 1-1 Premier League draw against West Ham United at the London Stadium:

Starting XI

Gianluigi Donnarumma – 4.5

Missed a critical clearance in what was his only test of the first-half. Needs to be much stronger on corners granted the lack of support from referees this season.

Matheus Nunes – 5

Coped well with the threat of Diouf but had to rely on Silva to cover him at times when he would drift inward. Stayed consistent and was quick to react for counter-attacks in the second-half.

Marc Guehi – 5.5

A much more convincing performance than what was seen against Real Madrid in the week. Could and perhaps should have gotten up sooner to compete with Mavropanos for West Ham’s equaliser – though he was smothered by Donnarumma in that play. Missed a golden chance from a corner to win the game for City right at the death.

Abdukodir Khusanov – 5

Looked calm on the ball after a few misplaced passes early on. Was understandably thrown in to rest Ruben Dias for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Real Madrid next week but the young Uzbek defender performed well given the circumstances. 

Rayan Ait-Nouri – 6

Got involved early on and threatened from the left flank having taken on Bowen and Wan-Bissaka. Does really well pushing up the pitch and, dare it be said, has probably become one of City’s best players based on recent performances. 

Rodri – 5.5

Had the ball on a string for the first 15 minutes and led the majority of City’s offensive from deep in that period. He also tracked back critically when West Ham countered.

Nico O’Reilly – 6

Recovered well with a better performance from what was seen in Madrid, albeit expectedly. It’s obvious that he was struggling at left-back at the Santiago Bernabeu and nearly reached expectations back in midfield here. 

Bernardo Silva – 6.5

What a goal. Whether he meant it or not, that was breathtaking. Away from the opener, he dropped back to assist in midfield and did a great job in being everywhere on the pitch at all the right times.  

Antoine Semenyo – 5.5

First touch was lacking more often than not and struggled to get himself in the game. However, he linked up excellently with O’Reilly for the opener and grew into the contest the longer he was on the pitch. More positives than negatives for sure but needs to dig deeper.

Omar Marmoush – 4.5

Got involved often before being substituted after 60 minutes. Appeared the weakest link in attack at that point so the change was plausible. 

Erling Haaland – 5

Didn’t get much of the ball until 60 minutes where two chances were squandered. Lacking in confidence but it’s better to at least see him shoot often after a couple of weeks of lifeless football. 

Substitutes

Rayan Cherki – 5.5

Slipped Haaland through only minutes after coming onto the pitch and also got a shot off which was deflected.

Jeremy Doku – 5

Injected energy into attack that was much-needed in the later stages of the game but it unfortunately didn’t come to anything.

Phil Foden – 4

Could have scored very late on but miscued his effort. 

Tijjani Reijnders – 4

Tracked back relentlessly but couldn’t help force a winner.