West Ham 1-1 Manchester City
by Paul Donovan
at the London Stadium

HONOURS finished even in what amounted to a game of attack and defence between West Ham and Manchester City at the London Stadium on Saturday evening.

The nature of the game was reflected in the statistics, with West Ham mustering only one chance on goal, which Konstantinos Mavropanos converted.

The formation put out by Hammers head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, with five across the back, indicated it would be a backs-to-the-wall defensive effort from the start.

City’s first-half dominance was rewarded when Omar Marmoush sent Bernardo Silva clear to chip over the poorly positioned home keeper Mads Hermansen.

But it took just four minutes before West Ham were level, with Mavropanos rising to head home a Jarrod Bowen corner. 

A neat combination between Nico O’Reilly and Erling Haaland saw Antoine Semenyo fire just wide.

The second half saw Marmoush also shoot wide, having been put in by Silva.

Hermansen then became the hero of the hour, pushing a Haaland shot round the post, then doing the same with a Matheus Nunes effort.

It was not to be Haaland’s night, though, as he scuffed wide a cross from Jeremy Doku.

Hermansen then pushed a free kick that hit the bar over.

The final effort from the visitors saw Marc Guehi fire over from close range.

Espirito Santo was pleased with what he described as “a very good defensive display” from his side.

While the point took West Ham out of the bottom three, the coach emphasised there is a long way to go, with eight games still to play.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola declared how proud he was of the players and the way they played.

He confirmed his team were growing, but not the finished product yet.

So honours finished even with the Hammers clambering one point nearer to safety, while City dropped two precious points in their pursuit of Premier League leaders Arsenal.