As much as the memory of past comebacks from Manchester City will continue to occupy Arsenal’s every waking thought, the temptation to declare that the title race is all but over is becoming increasingly impossible to resist.
Pep Guardiola must know there will be no breathless sprint for the finish if his side continue to play with such a lack of identity, cohesion and belief. Putting it bluntly, this is not the City of old. This was a careless, unfocused performance and it left them nine points below Arsenal, albeit with a game in hand. City did not raise the tempo until it was too late and although they limited West Ham to a solitary shot the problem is that it was the one that allowed Konstantinos Mavropanos to earn the point that lifted Nuno Espírito Santo’s dogged side out of the bottom three before Nottingham Forest host Fulham on Sunday.
It was tense at the end. West Ham’s spirit underlined their resurgence under Nuno. They believe. City, though, can feel the campaign slipping away from them. They will be looking to overturn a 3-0 deficit from the first leg when they host Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday. There is a danger this fizzles out. It is the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal next weekend. It may end up representing one of City’s only chances to win a trophy.
The vibe at the London Stadium would have been different if Arsenal had dropped points against Everton in the earlier kick-off. With the chance to cut the gap at the top gone, though, there was a strange lack of urgency to City during the early stages. They began by starving West Ham of possession but there was little incision. In fact, the suspicion was that this is how Nuno wanted it. After eight minutes West Ham had completed three passes. They sat deep in their back five, challenged City to break them down and waited for opportunities to break, presumably in the hope that one of Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Felipe or Taty Castellanos would prove capable of inflicting Fede Valverde-style punishment on the visitors.
Guardiola had bristled at the criticism of his gung-ho selection during the collapse against Madrid. However, his lineup here seemed like a correction. Matheus Nunes and Rayan Aït-Nouri were restored to the full-back positions, a switch that enabled Nico O’Reilly to move back into midfield, and the initial focus from City was very much on exerting a grip so tight there was simply no prospect of West Ham being allowed to counterattack.
The hosts were not helped by Crysencio Summerville’s absence with a calf injury depriving them of one of their key attacking weapons. Even so City were flat. Short of width and ideas, they did not get behind West Ham. Antoine Semenyo was very central. Erling Haaland was very quiet.
Guardiola looked bored in the directors’ box. He was serving a touchline ban and had entrusted Pep Lijnders with patrolling the dugout. The energy was all off, even when City took the lead in the 31st minute. Bernardo Silva ran on to a pass from Omar Marmoush, looked for support in the middle and was about to admonish himself after miscuing his dinked cross, only for the ball to nestle inside the far post after drifting over an unsuspecting Mads Hermansen.
It was poor from the West Ham goalkeeper but the goal did not lift City’s level. Instead it drew an immediate response from West Ham, who quickly levelled thanks to another goalkeeping error, Gianluigi Donnarumma flapping at a corner from Bowen and leaving Mavropanos to build on his penalty heroics in the FA Cup win over Brentford by heading in the equaliser.
Semenyo almost restored City’s lead, shooting narrowly wide after a rare link-up with Haaland, but changes were required. The angles were sharper when Aït-Nouri and the ineffective Marmoush made way for Jérémy Doku and Rayan Cherki after an hour. Cherki soon released Haaland, who was denied by Hermansen.
West Ham were barely getting out of their half. Rodri clipped a ball to Nunes but Soungoutou Magassa, just on for Pablo, denied the right-back. Doku produced a cut-back for Haaland, who scuffed wide, and Hermansen clawed a Cherki free-kick on to the bar.
There were some heart-in-mouth moments for West Ham to endure. Mateus Fernandes produced a wonder tackle to stop a winding run from the City substitute Phil Foden. A cross came in from the left and almost bounced in off Haaland.
Four minutes were added on. There was a chance for Marc Guéhi right at the end but when he skied over from close range City knew their race was run.
