It was messy, it was almost unwatchable at times, and it was a point earned by a delightful own goal. But Vladimir Coufal’s delicate glancing header past his own goalkeeper could prove decisive in the title race.
Manchester City had to fight back from two goals down at half-time to earn a result, only the second time in 53 Premier League occasions that they have retrieved ANYTHING from that position, after Jarrod Bowen had twice stung their patched-up defence.
Jack Grealish made his biggest mark yet on his debut season with a crucial equaliser and Coufal’s panicky header changed the mathematics of the final day completely. Presuming that Liverpool don’t mess up in their game at Southampton on Tuesday, it means a victory, by any margin, against Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium would mean the Blues are the champions for the fourth time in five years next Sunday.
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Defeat would have left it on a knife-edge and meant that a big Liverpool win at St Mary’s in midweek would have handed them the advantage in a final-day shoot-out that could have boiled down to goal difference.
If they clinch it next week City will have limped over the line in more ways than one - they fielded a centre-back pairing of Fernandinho and Aymeric Laporte against a dangerous West Ham outfit that was aiming to secure Europa League football and give retiring veteran midfielder Mark Noble a big send-off with a win,
Both defenders looked unlikely to play just 48 hours ago, and the Hammers’ threat from counter-attacks and set pieces was always going to be a worry, with the powerhouse Michail Antonio and quicksilver Bowen looking to prey on the 37-year-old Fernandinho and on Laporte, his knee bearing strappings above and below the joint.
Craig Dawson gave an early warning by isolating Oleks Zinchenko at the far post and heading onto the roof of the net, but the game quickly settled into the expected pattern of West Ham defending narrow and deep, happy for the Blues to pass the ball across the face of the penalty area, and sling in hopeful crosses.
And once those attacks broke on that well-organised and determined rearguard, they were swift to motor up the other end and exploit the inevitable spaces. City were not helped by the lack of VAR action when Gabriel Jesus tried to juggle the ball into a scoring position in the box and was taken out by a clumsy swipe from Kurt Zouma. It was easy to understand why ref Anthony Taylor missed it, but the replays showed it was a clear foul.
Fernandinho drove one over the bar and Rodri’s shot deflected wide off the rock that was Dawson, and the Hammers' goal felt almost inevitable. It was simple enough when it came, a ball over the top into the wide-open space between the City back-line on halfway and Ederson, on the edge of his area. The keeper normally patrols those areas like a sweeper but he was caught too deep, Laporte had not stepped up with the rest and that gave Bowen a free run at goal.
Ederson started to come and retreated again, when he should have gambled making it first, and Bowen simply shuffled round him and stuck the ball in the unguarded net. City tried to rally, again digging in around the box, but they were lacking - Jack Grealish was all dancing feet and no end product, Rodri all fight and not enough finesse, and Riyad Mahrez was slinging balls into the box like City had already fielded Erling Haaland.
Their best moment came from Oleks Zinchenko, popping up in a central midfield position and taking the West Ham players as much by surprise as he did the watching spectators, with a driving De Bruyne-style run that disrupted the defence and slipped a pass to Jesus, whose left-foot shot whistled just past the post.
With something to defend, and with the prospect of a Europa League place up for grabs, the Hammers re-doubled their efforts, and then added a second goal before half time. Again, it was too easy as Antonio helped the ball on to Bowen, again springing the high City line and racing infield before reversing his shot through the legs of Fernandinho to give Ederson no chance.
The stats were bleakly rolled out at half time - in the 52 Premier League occasions in which they have trailed by two at half time, they had lost 51 and drawn the other. A stat slightly warped by the reality of the last ten years, when they have barely ever been two down at half time, but sobering nonetheless.
It needed swift action and the Blues came out of the traps for the second half with more pace and snap, and halved the deficit within four minutes. Sustained pressure brought its reward as a hurried headed clearance only reached Grealish on the edge of the box.
His volley was clean and on target but was probably not going to beat keeper Lukasz Fabianski until Dawson’s attempt to block only succeeded in looping the ball over the grasp of the stopper.
Now they needed another, or two in an ideal world, and Bernardo Silva almost obliged, striking a volley from Grealish’s knock-down only for the shot to be blocked almost on the line before Zouma scrambled it away.
City were back in it, but doing their best to throw it away again as awful passes from first Zinchenko and then Fernandinho offered big chances to the home side. With City bludgeoning away at the other end, the game was on a knife-edge, and it swung back when the Blues got a big slice of good fortune.
Mahrez’s curling free kick from the left was way ahead of anyone in a City shirt but Coufal panicked, stretched out his neck and delivered the perfect glancing header into the far corner of his own net.
It was now fraught, frantic stuff, with City’s defence still looking fragile and uncertain. Bowen’s half-volley deflected off Laporte and arced round the post as the travelling fans at the far end held their breath again.
City seemed to have completed the comeback with five minutes to go when the livewire Gabriel Jesus darted past Dawson in the box and was again brought crashing by a clumsy challenge. Ref Anthony Taylor initially ruled out a penalty but after being asked to review his decision on the pitchside monitor, pointed to the spot.
Riyad Mahrez fired his spot kick to Fabianski’s left but at a saveable height and the Hammers keeper dived full-length to keep it out. Three points would have put City within an ace, one means there is plenty of work to do next Sunday, barring an unlikely Liverpool collapse.
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