It feels like an age ago that Manchester City secured a vital point in their penultimate Premier League fixture of last season at the London Stadium - but they will be hoping for two more on Sunday afternoon.
The Blues produced a spirited second-half comeback and drew level with 15 minutes to go. After falling 2-0 down, Jack Grealish's neat finish sparked City into life, with Vladimír Coufal deflecting the ball into his own net just minutes later. Riyad Mahrez even had a chance to win the game from the spot, but his effort was well saved by Lukasz Fabianski.
Everybody knows how good Pep Guardiola's side is in attack - the signings of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez only emphasise that - but Guardiola will be keen to highlight a number of threats to his defence when preparing for the Premier League opener, particularly the menacing Jarrod Bowen.
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Last season, with a depleted backline, City seriously struggled to contain a buzzing Hammers front three. There was a clear plan from David Moyes, and the Blues fell into the trap time and time again.
Long passes up-field targeted Michail Antonio's deep run and it triggered Bowen to make a run in behind City's defence. As is the norm for Guardiola's side in these scenarios, one central defender applies pressure, while the other sits back and deals with any looming threats.
But Antonio was winning every single flick-on and West Ham were creating chance after chance. The immense pressure eventually told and Bowen scored a first-half brace.
After half-time, City allowed Antonio to drop deep and receive the ball and backed themselves to deal with the striker on the ground. From that point onwards, the Blues gained control of the contest and - barring a few defensive errors - limited West Ham's second-half chances.
Guardiola will want to see more of the same on Sunday, when his City side begin their Premier League title defence at the London Stadium. Aymeric Laporte is still missing after knee surgery, but the manager has a trio of Ruben Dias, John Stones and Nathan Aké to choose from.
Any option is a massive upgrade on the makeshift backline we saw just three months ago, but all of them will understand the threat Bowen possesses and will look to bring more control to proceedings. In the Community Shield, City's play was frantic and the passing wasn't as crisp as usual, but that could be down to a little pre-season rustiness.
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