Manchester City were dealt another damaging blow in their Premier League title charge, after they drew for a second consecutive match, as West Ham United held them to a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium.
Bernardo Silva put the Blues in front after half an hour, only for Konstantinos Mavropanos to equalise from a corner moments later.
For all the chances City created in the second half, some great defending from the Irons and some top saves from Mads Hermansen ensured **Nuno Espirito Santo**’s side secured a vital point in their hunt for survival.
After **Arsenal**’s late win over Everton earlier on Saturday, this draw for **Pep Guardiola**’s side sees the gap between them and the league leaders extend to nine points (with a game in hand).
On a disappointing night, how did the City players fare?
Gianluigi Donnarumma - 4.5
West Ham registered just one shot throughout the entire 90 minutes, compared to City’s 24. Donnarumma won’t want to watch that one back.
The Italian, who had nothing else to do but fairly calm passing, came out to claim **Jarrod Bowen**’s corner, but got nowhere near it, allowing Mavropanos to head home.
Matheus Nunes - 6.5
Nunes’s actions felt somewhat on edge in this game. Aside from some haphazard challenges, the Portuguese dealt well with any threat provided by West Ham left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf, and put in one or two decent crosses himself.
Abdukodir Khusanov - 7.5
Another all-action defensive display from the Uzbek, mopping up any balls in behind while attacking and dealing with every ball that came his way. The consistency with which he has delivered these performances explains just why Ruben Dias could sit this one out.
Marc Guehi - 6.5
While perhaps a little more unconvincing than he has been so far in a City shirt, Guehi was a calming presence yet again at the back in a dominant display by Pep Lijnders’ team. However, his last gasp miss from close range at the death will haunt him.
Rayan Ait-Nouri - 6
Showcased some excellent footwork yet again, wriggling through the hosts’ many lines of defence. The Algerian was tidy in his passing yet again and competent defensively, but he seemed to slip with regularity and fail to create anything of note when he did breach the defence.
Rodri - 8
Vintage Rodri. This is simply what he does. Dropped deep to start City’s buildup play, moved it up the pitch with ease, dictated the tempo, used his high energy to win the ball back, while playing some dangerous passes in the final third.
Bernardo Silva - 7.5
Another of the seniors in the Blues’ midfield, Bernardo combined with Rodri in playing out and in the buildup play. His quick feet also carried his team forward, injecting energy into their play.
While he may not have meant it, his goal to put the visitors ahead was very easy on the eye.
Nico O’Reilly - 7
After a subpar display at left-back at the Bernabeu in midweek, O’Reilly returned to the midfield position that has yielded his latest excellent run of form. There, he used his physicality well again and was key in his team’s linkup play in and around the area.
There were occasions, however, where he received the ball in dangerous areas but neglected to pull the trigger.
Antoine Semenyo - 5
Throughout the first half especially, February’s Premier League Player of the Month continued to receive the ball in the channels and looked to move dangerously on the half turn. But almost every time, the Ghanaian couldn’t make anything from it. His effort that flew just wide of the post was the only thing of note from his performance.
Omar Marmoush - 5.5
After scoring twice at Newcastle last week - his first away goals in City colours - Marmoush would’ve been hoping for a better performance here. While he set up Bernardo’s opener, his forward runs bore no fruits and attacks seemed to break down when he got near the area.
Erling Haaland - 5.5
At a ground where he’d scored six times in three previous visits, Haaland was once again very quiet and dealt with very well by the Irons' defence. After a tame header went wide in the first half, the Norwegian grew into the game and came close one-on-one with Hermansen in the second, before firing an effort off Mavropanos’ face in stoppage time.
Substitutes
Rayan Cherki - 7
At a point where City were really struggling to create, Cherki was introduced and things started to happen. He played Haaland through for that aforementioned one-on-one chance while putting in some other dangerous deliveries.
Jeremy Doku - 6.5
Provided a great deal more threat than Marmoush and Semenyo but ultimately came up just as short.
Tijjani Reijnders - 6
Always looked to get involved off the bench and struck the crossbar with a dangerous whipped free-kick.
Phil Foden - 6
Contributed to City’s late spell of attacking pressure by making the right passes.