Manchester City dropped points in the title race without Pep Guardiola at West Ham United. In the 1-1 draw, a spectacular chip by Bernardo Silva wasn’t enough, as Donnarumma made a mistake shortly afterward.
Following Arsenal’s late 2-0 win over Everton, Manchester City were under pressure against bottom-of-the-table West Ham. In London, the Sky Blues had to do without Pep Guardiola on the sidelines due to a yellow card suspension; he watched the match from the stands. However, what he saw from there likely did not please him. Although his team dominated the match as expected, they created few chances despite their superiority.
Unsurprisingly, the Cityzens—who, following their 0-3 loss to Real Madrid, were missing Matheus Nunes, Ait Nouri, O’Reilly, and Marmoush were replaced by Ruben Dias, O’Reilly, Savinho, and Doku, needed a stroke of genius to take the lead: From a tight angle, Bernardo Silva delicately lifted the ball over Hermansen—one of six new faces for the home side following the 5-3 penalty shootout win against Brentford—and into the far corner (31′).
The joy over the goal didn’t last long, however, as Donnarumma let a corner kick from Bowen slip through—Mavropanos capitalized (35’). With Semenyo narrowly missing just before halftime (45’), the teams headed into the locker room with the score tied 1–1 about ten minutes later.
The Skyblues came out of the break with a bit more intensity, putting Hammers goalkeeper Hermansen in the spotlight. First, he reacted quickly to dive in a one-on-one with Haaland (61′), then he was on hand to save Magassa’s ill-fated clearance attempt (68′).
Guardiola’s tension was visibly rising. Again and again, he called out to assistant coach Pepijn Lijnders, who stood on the sideline wearing headphones, and gestured. But even the instructions clearly relayed to his players were of no help. Thus, Reijnders—whose direct free kick Hermansen tipped onto the crossbar (83rd)—and Guehi missed the winning goal deep into stoppage time (90’+5).
The 1-1 draw widened Manchester’s gap behind league leaders Arsenal to nine points, though Guardiola’s side still has a game in hand. West Ham, meanwhile, climbed out of the relegation zone thanks to the point. The Sky Blues are back in action on Tuesday with a home Champions League match against Real Madrid (9 p.m.). West Ham won’t play again until next Sunday (3:15 p.m.) at Aston Villa.