What Tottenham did for Man City last week, West Ham did today for Liverpool. The Hammers are in a desperate battle for the Europa League and they needed points. They refused to bow to the Citizens, led by two goals, and even denied Mahrez’s penalty kick, but in the end, had to settle for only a point. Not enough for the Europa League, but enough for the last round drama in the Premier League title race: West Ham – Manchester City 2-2.52 – Manchester City have trailed by 2+ goals at half time on 52 previous occasions in the Premier League, while they have never come back to win one of them, drawing one and losing 51. Precarious.— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 15, 2022 The pressure is now on Liverpool, who needs to win in Southampton on Wednesday in order to shrink the difference to only one point. In the last round, both teams are playing at home: City with Aston Villa, while Liverpool is hosting Wolverhampton. Citizens were not good today, and if somebody offered them 2-2 before the match, they would refuse, but with 2 goals down in the first half, 2-2 seems fair. They even had a chance for a complete turnaround in the 84th minute, but Fabianski saved Mahrez’s penalty and set the scenery for the last day drama in the Premier League.It would be an understatement to say that Pep Guardiola’s men were not good in the first half. For the opening 45 minutes, it was all West Ham. The Hammers were not scared of the current champoins, plus they needed a win to surpass Manchester United on the table, and Jarrod Bowen was the man to do it. England midfielder is in terrific form and it won’t be a surprise if one of the bigger clubs come after him in the upcoming transfer window. Zinchenko let Bowen slip away in the 24th minute, and he converted it from a tight angle for the lead. The second goal was also a fine piece of art from the edge of the box, as he again used a bad City defense in this match.City pushed West Ham to the limits just as the second half started and immediately equalized. Grealish hasn’t scored many goals this season for Man City but one was very important. Rodri headed the ball to City’s midfielder who’s volley was not so effective but it made it’s purpose – 2:1. City pushed even harder and Jesus, along with Silva and De Bruyne missed some good opportunities, but then Coufal decided to ‘help’ the Citizens with a beautiful own goal. 20 minutes until the end of the game, and we were back to square one. Bowen could have been the hero with a hat-trick and a winning goal but the missed a sitter in the 75th minute.And then Dawson tripped Jesus in the penalty area with an outstretched leg as he was slower than the Brazilian, but initially Anthony Taylor refused to point to the spot. However, his colleagues in the VAR room asked him to go to the pitchside monitor to check his decision and he overruled himself. But, Fabianski produced a bit of magic and denied Mahrez for a final 2-2 and a drama in the last round next week.PREMIER LEAGUE – Round 37SundayTottenham – Burnley 1-0 (1-0)/Kane 45+8 pen/Aston Villa – Crystal Palace 1-1 (0-0)/Watkins 69 – Schlupp 81/Leeds – Brighton 1-1 (0-1)/Struijk 90+2 – Welbeck 21/Watford – Leicester 1-5 (1-2)/Pedro 6 – Maddison 18, Vardy 22, 70, Barnes 46, 86/Wolverhampton – Norwich 1-1 (0-1)/Nouri 55- Pukki 37/West Ham – Man.City 2-2 /Bowen 24, 45 – Grealish 49, Coufal (og) 69/18.30: (2.09) Everton (3.40) Brentford (3.70)Monday22.00: (4.10) Newcastle (3.50) Arsenal (1.94)Tuesday21.45: (8.00) Southampton (5.10) Liverpool (1.42)***odds are subject to change
