Manchester City 1 West Ham 1: City player ratings as City drop points at the London Stadium.

Manchester City 1 (Bernardo Silva 31′)

West Ham 1 (Konstantinos Mavropanos 35′)

Here are the City player ratings and match report as Manchester City drew 1-1 with West Ham at the London Stadium tonight. Following Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Everton earlier today, the pressure was on Pep Guardiola’s side to pick up all three points to keep in touch with Mikel Arteta’s side. Arsenal moved ten points ahead of City at the top of the Premier League ahead of kickoff tonight with their victory. City produced a controlled display as they dominated possession. But they lacked any real cutting edge and creativity against a packed West Ham defence. All told, it was a frustrating night for Pep Guardiola’s side as they dropped two more points in a game they did dominate without creating enough real clear-cut chances.

When the starting lineups were announced Pep Guardiola made three changes to the starting lineup that were beaten by Real Madrid. Rayan Ait-Nouri, Matheus Nunes and Omar Marmoush returned to the starting lineup. Ruben Dias and Jeremy Doku dropped to the bench as Pep Guardiola reverted to the system that has served his team so well in recent weeks. Savinho wasn’t deemed fit enough to play. He, alongside John Stones, was left out of Manchester City’s matchday squad for tonight’s match. Mateo Kovacic returned to the City matchday squad for tonight’s match. The Croatian midfielder was named as a substitute as he finally returns to the fold after a lengthy absence due to injury.

First half.

Manchester City dominated possession in the opening five minutes of the match. Rayan Ait-Nouri made one promising run from the left, but he failed to put a cross in from a dangerous position. City also had three early corners that were easily dealt with by the West Ham defence. City did look good in possession as West Ham dropped deep defensively to frustrate Pep Guardiola’s side.

As the game approached the 15-minute mark, Manchester City continued to dominate possession. West Ham were struggling to get the ball at all. The issue for City was that they were struggling to break down a packed West Ham rearguard.

West Ham begin to have some possession but neither side carried any attacking threat.

Outside of an Omar Marmoush free kick from a good position that went well wide in the 19th minute, Manchester City were struggling to break down West Ham. City continued to dominate possession, but they lacked any real quality in the final third. From the 20th to the 25th minute, West Ham had a spell of possession, but City defended well, and in truth, West Ham’s spell of possession was fleeting at best.

Manchester City take the lead after a piece of magic from Bernardo Silva.

City would take a well-deserved lead in the 31st minute. Manchester City swept forward as Nico O’Reilly found Omar Marmoush in space on the left wing. Bernardo Silva made an overlapping run on the outside of Marmoush, and the Egyptian international slipped the ball to Bernardo. Bernardo drove into the West Ham box and had time to decide whether to take a shot or deliver a cross to the back post. Manchester City’s captain beat West Ham keeper Mads Hermansen with a sublime chip to give City the lead. It was a fantastic goal from Bernardo, and City needed a goal to take full advantage of their dominance in possession.

West Ham equalize as Gianluigi Donnarumma makes a mess of coming for a corner.

Manchester City would only hold the lead for four minutes. West Ham earned themselves a corner after Abdukodir Khusanov cleared the ball behind after a West Ham attack. Jarrod Bowen flighted in a corner ti the back post that Gianluigi Donnarumma came out to punch. The Italian keeper flapped at the ball, and Konstantinos Mavropanos was on hand to head home to equalize. The ball hit the crossbar before crossing the line. It was an extremely disappointing goal for City to concede, especially after they’d dominated possession for so long before taking the lead.

Following their equalizer, West Ham did grow into the game. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side appeared eager to press City and offered a threat on the break with the long ball over the top of Manchester City’s high defensive line. Manchester City should have retaken the lead in the 44th minute. City pressed West Ham into an error on the edge of their own area. The ball was played to Erling Haaland by Nico O’Reilly, and Haaland had space to operate on the left. Haaland played a ball to Antoine Semenyo, who fired a left-footed shot inches wide of the post when he should have hit the target.

Semenyo’s shot would be the final significant moment of the first half. Manchester City had dominated possession but lacked any real cutting edge in their play. West Ham began the game slowly but grew into the match after their equalizer. Pep Guardiola’s side needed to up the ante after halftime, or they were going to face an uphill battle to pick up all three points.

Second half.

The second half kicked off, and it felt like a huge half for Pep Guardiola’s side. There needed to be a lift in intensity in City’s possession play, and they had to offer more of an attacking threat than they posed in the first half. In a way, it felt like a huge moment in Manchester City’s season, given the events at the Emirates Stadium that occurred earlier today.

The first ten minutes of the second half passed by with Omar Marmoush putting a shot/cross wide in the 47th minute. West Ham saw a dangerous cross cleared by the City defence from the right in the 54th minute. Manchester City were again dominant in possession but they still lacked any creativity to unlock the West Ham defence. You did wonder if it was time for Pep Guardiola to make a change from the stands to try and break the game open for his team.

Erling Haaland had a shot saved by Mads Hermansen in the 61st minute. Haaland was slipped in behind the West Ham defense by a superb first-touch ball from Rayan Cherki, who had only been on the pitch for a minute. Haaland’s first-time shot was well saved by Hermansen, low down to his right, for a corner. It didn’t feel like a coincidence that Haaland’s first chance of the match arrived with Manchester City’s most creative player finally on the pitch.

City up the ante as Mads Hermansen makes another good save.

Mads Hermansen would make another good save to deny Matheus Nunes in the 67th minute. Nunes was played through on goal after some neat Manchester City passing. As Nunes went to shoot the West Ham defence crowded out Nunes who couldn’t get any real power on his shot from a very good position in the West Ham area. Hermansen tipped Nunes’ goal bound shot behind for a corner with a splendid save.

Erling Haaland would put a very good chance wide two minutes later. Rayan Cherki played in a quality cross from the right, which fell to Jeremy Doku on the left. Doku stood up Aaron Wan-Bissaka and played a good ball to Haaland. Erling Haaland hit a first-time shot well wide, which in truth sums up Haaland’s form at the moment.

Mads Hermansen denied Rayan Cherki in the 78th minute. Tijjani Reijnders floated in a corner to the back post, which the West Ham defense headed back into a dangerous position. Cherki took a touch and hit a volley, which Hermansen saved at his near post.

Tijjani Reijnders hit a dangerous free kick that was tipped onto the crossbar by Mads Hermansen in the 83rd minute. Doku won a free kick on the left, which Reijnders curled into a dangerous area. Hermansen tipped the ball onto the crossbar to keep the score at 1-1.

As the game entered stoppage time Manchester City were throwing everything at West Ham. Several goal mouth scrambles had fallen West Ham’s way prior to stoppage time beginning. Pep Guardiola’s side needed a goal and were playing with the intensity that they needed to have much earlier in the game.

Manchester City would have a corner in the 94th minute. Tijjani Reijnders’ corner hit Nico O’Reilly and the young midfielder saw his goal bound shot blocked. The ball fell to Marc Guehi who skied a right-footed shot from close range well over the bar. It did seem like would be Manchester City’s final chance to win the game.

Manchester City drop points to West Ham and it does now seems like City’s title hopes have evaporated.

Marc Guehi’s shot would be the final moment of significance of the match. Manchester City drew with West Ham despite dominating possession and only allowing Nuno Espirito Santo’s side one shot throughout the match. But that’s the problem. Until Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku came on, City lacked any real quality and creativity to open up the West Ham defense. The urgency and drive in Manchester City’s attacking play came too late, and that cost City today.

In terms of Manchester City’s title hopes, the draw against Nottingham Forest and tonight’s result against West Ham do feel like a fatal blow. As well as Forest and West Ham defended and took their chances, Pep Guardiola’s side must be beating teams fighting to avoid relegation to keep in touch with Arsenal. The title race isn’t over yet; there is still plenty of football to be played. Come the final whistle, you did feel that with Arsenal’s late heroics and with City dropping points at the London Stadium tonight, today could well be a defining day in the Premier League title race.

City player ratings.

Gianluigi Donnarumma-3/10: Donnarumma had nothing to do besides come for a corner. But he made a horrible mess of that which cost his team dearly tonight. 

Matheus Nunes-6.5/10: Defended well when required, and did get forward well. Although his delivery wasn’t the best throughout the match.

Abdukodir Khusanov-7.5/10: Another good display from Khusanov. When needed he defended exceptionally well.

Marc Guehi-7/10: A solid defensive display from Guehi.

Rayan Ait-Nouri-7/10: Ait-Nouri got forward well and he had some nice touches when in possession. Defended well also before being taken off as Pep Guardiola changed his set up to try and find a winner.

Rodri-8/10: -Like Bernardo, Rodri did all he could to drive his team to victory. It wasn’t to be but Rodri’s performance in midfield was very good.

Bernardo Silva-8/10: Scored Manchester City’s first goal with a superb chip and he was arguably City’s best player while he was on the pitch.

Nico O’Reilly-7/10: I thought Nico O’Reilly bounced back well from his display against Real Madrid. Offered a threat going forward and did his job in midfield. 

Omar Marmoush-5/10: Not his best night. His delivery from corners was woeful and he toiled away without any service to thrive on.

Antoine Semenyo-5/10: Semenyo toiled away but he wasn’t at his best playing as a number ten. He also couldn’t get into the game in the second half as he would’ve liked.

Erling Haaland-5/10: For an hour, Haaland had no service to work with. Cherki came on and Haaland did look livelier. Having said that, Manchester City needed much more from him tonight. 

Substitutes.

Rayan Cherki-7/10: Simply put, Cherki should have started tonight’s match. When he came on he instantly created a chance for Haaland. He always is trying to create something and City desperately lacked that tonight.

Jeremy Doku-7/10: Like Cherki, Doku tried to make a difference after coming off the bench. He played in several dangerous crosses and added much-needed life to City’s attacking play.

Phil Foden-6/10: Barely had time to make an impact but he did look up for it which was pleasing to see.

Tijjani Reijnders-6/10: Hit the post with a free-kick and did try to make things happen after coming on.