Unflinching West Ham Make Their Own Luck to Boost Survival Bid and Disrupt Man City’s Title Charge
Tom Hancock
West Ham scored with their only shot then produced a phenomenal backs-to-the-wall performance to pick up a priceless point in the fight against relegation and dent Manchester City’s title hopes.
Following Arsenal’s earlier win over Everton, the pressure was on Man City to close the gap at the Premier League summit to two points as they played their first of two games in hand on the Gunners.
The result leaves Pep Guardiola’s City nine points off top spot, while Nuno Espirito Santo’s ever-improving Hammers climb out of the bottom three and up to 17th.
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An initially uneventful first half at the London Stadium sparked into life when Bernardo Silva lobbed Mads Hermansen with what looked like a cross but, given the Portuguese’s sheer quality, might well have been an astonishing shot.
Intentional or not, it was an undeniably eye-catching way for Manchester City to get their noses in front in the push to keep pace with Arsenal.
But the visitors’ lead lasted all of four minutes, West Ham responding when Gianluigi Donnarumma, in trying to claim Jarrod Bowen’s corner, completely missed the ball and Mavropanos crashed a header in off the crossbar for his first West Ham goal since December 2023 – while Bowen made it five goal contributions (2 goals, 3 assists) in four games in all competitions.
Man City almost restored their lead just before half-time, but Antoine Semenyo didn’t get a clean enough connection on his shot and stroked it narrowly wide.
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Pep Guardiola – serving a touchline ban – had said in no uncertain terms before this encounter that if his side dropped any more points, the title race would be over – and those words were no doubt ringing in the ears of the City players as the second half kicked off.
Erling Haaland – who didn’t have a single shot in Wednesday’s chastening Champions League loss to Real Madrid and had been enduring a similarly barren night in East London – came close to putting the visitors back in front just after hour mark but saw his shot through the legs of Mavropanos well-saved by Hermansen, who only saw it late.
West Ham’s Danish goalkeeper was called into action again moments later, dealing with the danger after Mavropanos had slid in to block Matheus Nunes’ shot – though Man City’s right-back might have done better if not for a heavy first touch.
Haaland – approaching four games without a goal in all competitions – then scuffed an effort wide as City accelerated their push for a much-needed winner and the Hammers tried to cling on for an all-important draw.
And they really were clinging on as Hermansen got the faintest of fingertips on Tijjani Reijnders’ inswinging free-kick to tip it onto the bar.
Matheus Fernandes’ sublime last-ditch sliding tackle on Phil Foden exemplified the bodies-on-the-line defending which earned West Ham their point, before Jeremy Doku’s teasing cross somehow evaded both Foden and Haaland then a loose ball from a corner somewhat miraculously fell into the hands of Hermansen.
The hosts were riding their luck – but they say you make your own luck, and the Hammers’ display deserved every bit of it that fell their way, the next piece being Marc Guehi’s gilt-edged chance from another corner which the defender blazed well over.
Guardiola could only watch in frustration from the stands as his team squandered opportunity after opportunity – ultimately out-shooting their opponents 25-1 – and, unless he’s gone back on his word, squandered their title chances.
As for West Ham, they’ll be keeping a close eye on results in the Premier League on Sunday – when Nottingham Forest, one point and one place below them, host Fulham and Tottenham, level on points with the Hammers but one place higher on goal difference, travel to Liverpool.
Man of the Match: Konstantinos Mavropanos (West Ham)
After bagging what could prove to be one of the most important goals of West Ham’s season, Mavropanos went to work at the back and didn’t put a foot wrong.
The giant Greek defender was the standout in the Hammers’ all-round imperious back three, winning 100% of his ground duels, making 10 clearances and producing four blocks – which included taking a turbo-charged Haaland shot square in the face.
