Man City Slipped Up Against West Ham

Pep Guardiola

Riyad Mahrez went on to miss a penalty as Man City drew against West Ham United- putting their title hopes in jeopardy- on Sunday. Although Jarrod Bowen had scored twice to give West Ham a shock lead, City went on to respond with a late strike from Jack Grealish- along with an own goal from Vladimir Coufal. But the latter stages of the game saw Mahrez’s penalty saved by Lukasz Fabianski- one that definitely gave Liverpool some hope in the title race for the English Premier League. Although Pep’s side has a four-point lead at the top of the table, Liverpool still has a game in their hands.

Man City Drew Against West Ham

In his post-match interview, Pep Guardiola stated that the league was still in their hands. While it would have been perfect for their situation to win the game, West Ham had already been fighting for Europa League and was going through an incredible season. It was definitely complicated for Man City to both attack and play against them, and yet they managed to get a great comeback. They had to score just a single goal to get back into the game. And score they did. 

West Ham had the first chance of drawing blood when Craig Dawson’s header sent the ball over the net. In the 15th minute, Man City went on to claim a penalty when Kurt Zouma appeared to have clipped Gabriel Jesus inside the area. But incidentally, the referee waved the protests away for this. This came up to be quite a crucial moment as the hosts went on to score less than 10 minutes later, courtesy of Bowen beating the offside trap, skipping past Ederson, and producing a fine finish into the far left corner. Before halftime, Bowen managed to double his and his team’s lead as he raced in behind the defense and slotted another goal. 

Nevertheless, Man City did respond well and managed to grab a goal back in the next four minutes- through a deflected effort of Jack Grealish.