2 years ago
Manchester City drew 2-2 with West Ham, and Riyad Mahrez squandered a chance to effectively secure the Premier League title.
With five minutes remaining, the Algerian took the penalty spot, but Lukasz Fabianski judged correctly to deny Mahrez and keep City waiting.
Jarrod Bowen ruthlessly exploited the space in behind City's defense to raise his Premier League total to 12 for the season, putting Pep Guardiola's side two goals down at halftime.
Before an own goal from Vladimir Coufal leveled the score, Jack Grealish halved the deficit, and late on, Mahrez fluffed his lines from 12 yards.City now leads the standings by four points, albeit Liverpool still has a game in hand. While they still have the crown, there will most certainly be work to be done on the last day of the season.
In the first 20 minutes, the Hammers barely had a kick as City dominated possession, albeit Craig Dawson missed a huge chance when free at the back post early on.
West Ham gained the lead unexpectedly and against the odds. Bowen's run was well timed, and he then got around Ederson to finish from a tight angle after Pablo Fornals put a straightforward ball over the top.
City initially appeared ragged in reaction, but gradually regained their poise.However, West Ham's lead was increased just before halftime. Bowen made the run in behind again, but this time no one followed him and he was in on goal. Before blasting through Fernandinho's knees and into the bottom corner, he took his time.
Whatever Guardiola said to his team during the break had an effect. City started the second half wonderfully, and Grealish's shot bounced off Dawson and soared past Lukasz Fabianski after only four minutes.As the visitors pinned West Ham back, the pressure was relentless. Before Fabianski produced a fantastic stop at his near post to deny Bernardo Silva, both Grealish and Jesus had chances.
City, on the other hand, were sloppy in the back and should have been penalised. When Declan Rice was waiting at the back post, Bowen chose to go for goal from a tight angle, firing into the side-netting.
Michail Antonio stood the best opportunity of restoring the two-goal cushion. Antonio was let through on goal by Fernandinho's poor backpass, but he lobbed his effort over Ederson and over the bar.City was leveled minutes later. Coufal launched himself at a dangerous free-kick from Riyad Mahrez and hooked a header into the far corner of his own net.
To a standing ovation, Mark Noble was introduced for the final time at the London Stadium, and the game appeared to be heading for a draw until Dawson pulled down Jesus in the box. The penalty was issued following a VAR review.
In a week, City will find out just how costly that Mahrez miss was.
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